AMERICA      r 

WORLX) 
EVANGELIZATION 


J.  C.  KUNZMANN 


BV  2410 

.K8 

1920 

Kunzmann 

,  Jacob  Chr 

istoph, 

1852- 

America 

and 

world 

P-V^TLa&l 

±7  at 

■1  nn 

AMERICA  AND  WORLD 
EVANGELIZATION 


BY 
THE  REV.  J.  C.  KUNZMANN.  D.D. 

President  of  the  Pacific  TJteological  Seminary 
Formerly  Superintendent  of  Home  Missions 


PHILADELPHIA 
THE  UNITED  LUTHERAN  PUBLICATION  HOUSE 


COPYRIGHT,   1920,  BY 

THE  BOARD  OF   PUBLICATION   OF 

THE  UNITED  LUTHERAN  CHURCH  IN  AMERICA 


DEDICATION 

Dedicated  to  a  United  Lutheran  Church  and 
to  the  Evangelical  Churches  co-operating  in  the 
unity  of  the  Spirit  and  bond  of  peace  for  the 
christianijjation  of  America,  fundamental  to 
world  evangelization. 


FOREWORD 

This  book  was  written  at  the  call  of  the  Home 
Mission  forces  of  the  General  Council,  which 
has  since  been  merged  into  The  United  Luth- 
eran Church  in  America.  Its  introduction  is 
written  by  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Home 
Missions  and  Church  Extension  of  The  United 
Lutheran  Church  in  America.  Its  object  is  to 
set  forth  the  claims  and  fundamental  importance 
of  Home  Missions  in  America,  not  for  the  sake 
of  the  homeland,  but  for  the  most  speedy  evan- 
gelization of  the  world.  It  stands  for  the  entire 
program  of  our  Saviour,  and  calls  attention  to 
the  main  cause  of  our  hitherto  failure,  in  the 
hope  that  especial  attention  may  be  given  to  this 
center  of  influence  and  power. 

But  any  kind  of  Home  Mission  propaganda 
will  not  answer.  Therefore,  we  have  departed 
from  the  usual  books  on  this  subject  and  begun 
with  the  fundamental  principles  of  effective 
missionary  effort.  The  all-power  of  Jesus  only 
accompanies  men  and  means  ordained  and  ap- 
pointed by  Him.  Christ  and  Christianity  are  the 
only  specifics  for  individual  and  world  redemp- 
tion. Home  Missions  must  be  Christian  first, 
last  and  all  the  time,  or  they  cannot  christianize 
v 


vi  FOREWORD 

the  homeland,  its  citizens,  homes,  communities, 
governments.  A  God-man  is  the  only  Saviour, 
and  a  God-inspired  book  is  the  only  guide.  The 
Spirit  of  God  is  the  indispensable  agent,  without 
whose  help  humanity  fails. 

Home  Missions  are  not  the  only  missions  of 
the  Church.  They  are  the  center,  not  the  cir- 
cumference. The  home  work  is  fundamental  to 
the  foreign,  and  the  extent  to  which  the  first  is 
accomplished  is  the  measure  to  which  the  second 
can  be  undertaken.  The  ideal  which  the  Church 
must  ever  set  before  her  is  the  kingdom,  and  to 
this  end  she  must  bear  witness,  labor,  and,  if 
need  be,  suffer  with  Christ.  Her  obligation  to 
society  and  the  state,  to  capital  and  labor,  and 
to  all  the  affairs  of  life,  are  commensurate  with 
her  obligations  to  God.  They  are  embraced  in 
the  one  commandment  of  love  and  in  its  twofold 
relation  Godward  and  manward.  What  love  de- 
mands, no  human  power  can  gainsay. 

We  contend  that  God  has  been  seeking  a  na- 
tion in  order  to  evangelize  the  nations.  This  is 
evident  from  His  Word  and  from  His  dealings 
with  the  nations  of  the  world.  His  purpose  is 
seen  in  the  opening  and  peopling  of  North  Amer- 
ica. Her  great  leaders,  her  most  devoted  citi- 
zens, and  even  the  common  man  has  been  con- 
scious of  the  fact  that  America  has  a  world  mis- 
sion. Even  the  world  seems  to  have  sensed  it, 
as  all  the  nations  have  been  appealing  to  us,  and 


FOREWORD  vii 

not  in  vain.  We  have  led  the  world  to  a  higher 
civilization  and  higher  ideals.  We  do  not  claim 
perfection,  but  we  do  claim  an  unselfishness  in 
our  dealings  with  the  weaker  peoples  such  as 
has  not  been  paralleled  by  any  other  nation. 

But  the  greatest  crisis  of  the  world  has  come. 
The  old  systems  of  tyranny  and  oppression,  co- 
ercion and  repression  are  being  everywhere  over- 
thrown. The  foundations  of  our  fathers  alone 
stand  secure.  If  we  have  permitted  the  accumu- 
lation of  any  wood,  hay  and  stubble  in  our  politic 
or  economic  structure,  it  is  ours  to  remove  them, 
and  to  build  upon  the  true  foundation  a  nation 
after  the  pattern  of  the  City  of  God  which  com- 
eth  down  from  heaven.  By  the  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ,  all  America  can  be  roused  to  its  gigantic 
mission;  and  if  this  volume  will  be  of  any  ser- 
vice thereto,  I  shall  consider  myself  abundantly 
repaid  for  the  time  spent  in  its  composition. 

J.    C.   KUNZMANN. 


CONTENTS 


chapter  page 

Introduction    1 1 

I.  The  Fundamental  Principles: 
The  Divine  Means  and  Two- 
fold Agents   15 

II.     The     Human     Agents:      Their 

Fundamental  Function 34 

III.  Home  Missions  Fundamental  to 

World  Evangelization.    In  the 
Light  of  the  Scriptures   57 

IV.  The  Testimony  of  Church  His- 

tory       74 

V.     The  Scope  of  Home  Missions 92 

VI.     America  Fundamental  to  World 

Evangelization    122 

VII.     America  and  World  Evangeliza- 
tion      145 

VIII.     America's  World  Mission 167 

Appendices    I93 

ix 


INTRODUCTION 

For  many  years  the  mission  column  in  the 
church  weekhes  was  the  sole  source  of  mission 
information  among  Protestants.  Then  came  the 
mission  quarterlies  and  mission  monthlies,  and 
even  mission  weeklies.  In  process  of  time,  fugi- 
tive volumes  made  their  appearance  in  the  form 
of  biographies,  character  sketches,  reminiscences, 
and  the  like.  At  last,  a  complete  literature,  em- 
bracing every  phase  of  mission  activities,  was 
sent  broadcast,  volume  upon  volume;  while  Mis- 
sion Study  classes  were  organized  in  all  our 
Protestant  churches,  with  the  resultant  response 
in  missionary  support.  It  was  the  great  pre- 
paratory stage  of  good  things  to  come. 

The  volume  in  hand  is  unique:  it  is  different 
from  all  that  has  preceded  it.  As  a  rule,  it  has 
been  the  evident  purpose  to  awaken  interest  in 
mission  enterprise  by  the  thrilling  experiences  of 
the  missionaries,  the  personal  sacrifice  insepar- 
able from  their  service,  and  the  deep  need  of 
those  to  whom  they  carried  the  Gospel  of  grace. 
It  touched  the  sentimental  side  of  our  nature — 
whose  beneficent  influence  we  should  neither  de- 
spise nor  discount.  But  here  the  author  goes 
upon  a  different  principle.  He  presses  the  duty 
xi 


xii  INTRODUCTION 

home  to  the  individual  heart  by  an  array  of 
Scripture  passages  that  drive  him  with  an  irre- 
sistible force  to  its  performance.  It  is  the  heart- 
thrust  which  no  man  can  escape,  and  which  gives 
neither  rest  nor  peace  till  the  most  and  the  best 
has  been  done. 

We  like  the  broadness  of  this  book — its  ecu- 
menical spirit.  It  is  always  based  on  the  Bible: 
Word  and  Sacrament  are  everywhere  made 
fundamental  to  all  else.  It  keeps  out  of  the  ruts. 
It  is  not  the  resume  of  other  men's  thought;  nor 
is  it  a  patchwork  of  the  curious  and  the  quaint. 
The  author  is  not  a  mere  copyist,  much  less  a 
literary  hack.  He  blazes  a  pathway  of  his  own, 
and  never  fails  to  reach  the  point  for  which  he 
starts.  He  has  a  great  objective;  and  he  drives 
straight  to  it.  He  does  not  write  for  pastime, 
but  to  present  overmastering  facts.  No  doubt, 
here  are  points  on  which  more  than  one  person 
will  take  issue.  We  should  be  disappointed  were 
it  otherwise.  For  it  must  be  a  poor  book  to 
which  everyone  nods  assent  on  sight.  We  are 
confident,  however,  of  this  one  thing:  It  will 
stir  up  serious,  wholesome  thought.  And  we  are 
equally  confident  that  if  the  reader  follows,  with- 
out prejudice,  each  point  back  to  its  root-prin- 
ciple, he  shall  find  that  it  is  grounded  aright.  It 
is  not  the  work  of  a  visionary,  but  of  a  man  with 
a  vision ;  and  he  who  gets  at  its  inner  essence 
will   likewise  get  a  vision   that   sends  him   into 


INTRODUCTION  xiii 

the  mission  trenches  to  do  a  yeoman's  service 
there;  or  he  will  see  to  it  that  the  base  of  sup- 
plies shall  be  adequate  to  the  needs  on  the  front. 
We  like  the  book,  because  it  is  the  work  of  a 
man  who  is  not  a  novice,  but  who  has  a  lifetime 
of  Christian  experience  and  mission  service  to 
back  it.  We  like  it  because  it  is  an  unanswer- 
able challenge  to  every  Christian  heart,  and 
no  Christian  heart  can  escape  the  duty  it  im- 
poses. We  like  it  because  it  spares  none,  caters 
to  none,  flatters  none.  It  follows  the  truth  with 
a  steady  stride,  and  turns  neither  to  the  right 
hand  nor  to  the  left  to  suit  radical  men  with  radi- 
cal measures,  or  yield  to  the  compromising 
tendencies  of  the  times.  We  like  it  because  the 
love  of  God,  through  Christ,  is  its  central  theme, 
and  the  constraining  power  of  that  love  the  ele- 
ment by  which  it  would  move  the  heart  and 
direct  the  life.  And  we  guarantee  to  the  thought- 
ful reader  a  bigger  view  of  our  nation's  place  in 
worldwide  mission  enterprise,  a  deeper  sense  of 
personal  duty  to  make  every  needed  sacrifice  that 
the  churches  of  these  United  States,  with  the 
bordering  provinces,  may  come  up  to  the  full 
measure  of  responsibility  in  the  conduct  of  the 
World's  Mission  Program,  and  a  solemn  pledge 
to  make  the  congregational  base  the  strongest, 
the  purest,  the  best  possible.  If  such  be  the 
blessed  influence  and  effect — and  by  the  grace  of 
God  it  should  not  fall  short  of  it — this  little  vol- 


xiv  INTRODUCTION 

ume  shall  mark  a  new  era  in  the  home  churches 
as  well  as  the  churches  in  foreign  parts. 

J.  E.  Whitteker, 
President  of  the  Home  Mission  Board  of  The 
United  Lutheran  Church  in  America. 


AMERICA    AND    WORLD 
EVANGELIZATION 


CHAPTER  I 

The  Fundamental  Principles:  The  Divine 
Means  and  Twofold  Agents 

"As  Luther  found  it  necessary  to  question  even  the 
venerable  traditions  of  the  elders,  and  separate  the  in- 
fallible Scriptures  [and  Sacraments]  from  all  the  chaff 
and  alloy  of  all  mere  human  teaching,  it  behooves  us 
to  pray  for  grace  to  go  back  to  the  very  beginning  and 
inquire  of  the  Master  Himself  what  are  the  eternal 
and  immutable  principles  of  mission  work. — Arthur  T. 
Pier  son. 

We  classify  missions  under  the  terms  Home 
and  Foreign,  according  as  they  are  conducted  in 
the  homeland  or  among  foreign  nations.  We  are 
not  discussing  accessories,  but  divinely  prescribed 
fundamentals.  The  fundamental  requisites  in 
either  case  are  divine  and  human.  The  Saviour, 
when  He  ascended,  committed  the  work  to  the 
Holy  Spirit  and  holy  men — to  the  Holy  Spirit 
and  the  Church  which  that  Spirit  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost  formed;  the  communion  of  saints,  the 
fellowship  of  believers.  The  means  to  be  used 
are  the  Word  which  holy  men  uttered  as  they 


16       AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

were  moved  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  the  Sacra- 
ments, Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  which 
the  Saviour  instituted.  The  object  is  the  salva- 
tion of  what  has  fallen,  using  regenerated 
agents  for  God's  gracious  purpose.  The  human 
agencies  must  use  the  divine  means  of  grace. 
These  are  the  heavenly  treasures  which  the 
earthen  vessels  must  carry  to  the  needy  children 
of  men,  to  transform  their  lives  and  the  condi- 
tions under  which  they  live. 

ENLARGING  REVELATION 

The  Old  and  New  Testaments,  progressively 
given  to  the  world,  are  the  full  and  complete  rec- 
ord of  God's  will  and  purpose  for  the  race  and 
the  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  life.  They  are 
being  progressively  understood  by  the  Church 
under  the  guidance  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  bringing 
forth  things  new  and  old  according  to  the  needs 
of  the  succeeding  ages.  In  the  work  of  the  crea- 
tion there  were  different  operations  by  the  same 
Spirit,  bringing  order  out  of  chaos,  commanding 
the  light  to  shine,  laying  the  metals,  gems  and 
minerals  in  the  earth,  filling  the  sea  with  fish, 
preparing  the  earth  as  the  abode  for  man,  whom 
He  formed  in  His  image  and  likeness. 

God  spake  to  man  through  the  ceremonial  law, 
the  levitical  code,  the  legislation  of  Moses,  the  ly- 
ric melody  of  the  Psalms,  and  through  the  evan- 
gelical and  political  messages  of  the  prophets,  as 


THE  DIVINE  MEANS  AND  TWOFOLD  AGENTS     17 

well  as  through  the  Gospels  and  Epistles  of  the 
New  Testament,  that  the  man  of  God  might  be 
"thoroughly  furnished  unto  all  good  works."  He 
did  not  speak  through  Moses  as  He  did  through 
Isaiah,  through  James  as  through  Paul,  nor 
through  Peter  as  through  John,  but  through  all 
of  them  combined  He  gave  His  full  and  complete 
message  to  the  world.  The  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews  sums  it  up :  "God  having  of  old  spoken 
unto  the  fathers  in  the  prophets  by  divers  por- 
tions and  in  divers  manners,  hath  at  the  end  of 
these  days  spoken  unto  us  in  His  Son."  It  is  the 
same  message,  in  divers  portions  and  even  in 
divers  manners,  but  they  all  meet  in  Christ  and 
find  their  completion  and  fullness  in  and  through 
Him. 

VARYING  METHODS  AND  SIGNS 

Nor  are  the  methods  for  the  propagation  of 
the  truth,  or  the  divine  signs,  which  accompany 
its  triumph  and  attest  its  divinity,  everywhere 
alike.  They  vary  according  to  the  age  in  which 
and  the  people  to  whom  the  saving  Gospel  is  pro- 
claimed. The  Magi,  who  studied  the  heavenly 
orbs,  He  led  by  a  star  to  the  prophets,  and  then 
by  the  Word  revealed,  to  see  and  worship  the 
new-born  King  of  the  Jews.  To  the  Jews,  who 
sought  signs,  He  accompanied  the  outpourings 
of  the  Spirit  and  the  Apostolic  Message,  with 
those  signs  which  followed  the  preaching  of  their 
day.     To  the  Greeks,  who  sought  wisdom,  He 


18       AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

revealed  a  wisdom,  a  godliness  which  is  profit- 
able not  only  for  this  life  but  for  the  unending 
life  to  come.  The  devout  student  of  the  Bible 
will  be  able  to  note  and  admire  the  goodness  and 
wisdom  of  God  in  the  adaptation  of  His  message 
and  work  to  the  various  ages,  classes  and  condi- 
tions of  men.  God's  work  in  creation  and  re- 
demption is  always  progressive ;  His  methods  are 
never  reduplications.  And  the  Church  in  its 
missionary  operations  must  use  the  divine  means, 
follow  the  divine  method,  and  wisely  adapt  her- 
self to  the  varied  requirements  of  the  people 
whom  she  seeks  to  save. 

In  theory  we  distinguish  between  adiaphora 
and  essentials,  but  in  our  practice  we  often  exalt 
the  adiaphora  into  essentials  and  reduce  the  es- 
sentials to  adiaphora.  There  are  many  errorists 
who,  because  they  do  not  rightly  divide  the  Word, 
wrongly  divide  the  Churches  and  carry  confusion 
among  men  to  the  hindrance  of  the  cause.  The 
divine  message  is  one  and  the  same,  the  human 
forms  and  methods  must  vary  according  to  the 
age,  the  hearers  and  the  preacher. 

THE  GREAT  COMMISSION 

The  commission  is  to  the  Church,  to  the  five 
hundred  in  Galilee,  the  one  hundred  and  twenty 
in  Jerusalem;  and  every  believer,  in  harmony 
with  the  brethren,  is  a  participant. 

"And  Jesus  came  to  them,  saying,  All  authority 


THE  DIVINE  MEANS  AND  TWOFOLD  AGENTS     19 

(power)  is  given  to  me  in  heaven  and  on  earth: 
Go  ye,  therefore,  and  make  disciples  of  all  na- 
tions, baptizing  them  into  the  name  of  the  Father 
and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost;  teaching 
them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have 
commanded  you :  and  lo,  I  am  with  you  always, 
even  unto  the  end  of  the  world"  (the  consumma- 
tion of  the  age).  This  is  the  summary,  and  the 
details  are  found  in  the  synoptic  Gospels  and  the 
first  chapter  of  the  book  of  Acts. 

They  were  to  disciple  all  nations — Jew  and 
Gentile — by  baptizing  and  teaching,  by  Word  and 
Sacraments.  The  teaching  was  to  eventuate  in 
observing  all  things  that  He  had  commanded. 
They  were  to  begin  at  Jerusalem,  and  from  that 
center  continue  the  work  to  the  ends  of  the  earth. 
They  were  to  set  forth  the  Christ  predicted  by 
Moses  and  the  prophets  in  His  death  and  resur- 
rection for  the  atonement  and  remission  of  sins 
and  in  His  coming  again  a  second  time  without 
sin  unto  salvation.  They  were  to  tell  them  of  the 
Father's  love  and  of  the  Spirit's  work  and  pro- 
claim the  whole  counsel  of  God.  By  Word  and 
Sacraments  there  were  to  be  gathered  in  suc- 
ceeding generations  those  who  were  to  be  the  salt 
of  the  earth  and  the  light  of  the  world. 

All  this  was  to  be  done  under  the  inspiring 
presence  and  leadership  of  the  risen  and  exalted 
Saviour.  His  presence  was  to  go  with  them.  His 
all-power  was  to  be  made  manifest  in  their  weak- 


20       AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

ness.  The  only  thing  for  them  to  be  and  do  was 
to  be  His  zmtnesses  and  to  do  zvhatsoever  He 
commanded.  This  spells  victory.  All  else  means 
defeat.  Let  the  Church  be  His  and  do  His  will, 
and  a  greater  missionary  era  than  the  ApostoHc 
will  dawn.  For,  after  all,  it  depends  upon  man's 
reception  or  rejection  of  the  grace  of  God 
whether  justice  shall  overwhelm  or  mercy  shall 
save.  Man's  change  does  not  change  God,  but 
determines  whether  He  shall  pardon  or  condemn. 

THE   MEANS  AND  AGENCIES 

God  always  works  through  means  and  agents, 
heavenly  and  earthly,  divine  and  human,  to  ac- 
complish His  purpose.  To  this  there  is  no  ex- 
ception in  His  ordinary  or  extraordinary  work. 
In  miracles  He  is  the  agent,  the  means  are  beyond 
our  knowledge.  It  is  as  true  that  without  us  He 
does  nothing,  as  it  is  that  without  Him  we  can  do 
nothing.  The  human  agents  are  as  necessary,  ac- 
cording to  the  established  order,  as  are  the  divine. 
The  daily  bread  which  keeps  a  world  from 
starvation,  and  the  bread  of  life  which  saves  man 
from  spiritual  death,  are  brought  to  us  by  the 
joint  activity  of  God  and  man.  The  same  law 
holds  in  nature  and  in  grace. 

IN   NATURE 

The  harvest  which  is  reaped  every  year,  where 
the  bow  of  promise  gilds  the  heavens  and  attests 


THE  DIVINE  MEANS  AND  TWOFOLD  AGENTS     21 

the  fidelity  of  God,  has  in  it  the  divine  and  human 
elements.  By  those  unseen  means  which  we  call 
miracles,  the  Almighty  fiats,  "the  earth  brought 
forth  grass,  herbs  yielding  seed  after  their  kind, 
and  trees  bearing  fruit,  wherein  is  the  seed 
thereof,"  but  ever  since,  man  has  had  to  gather 
the  harvest  in  the  sweat  of  his  brow;  ever  since, 
man  has  been  a  copartner  with  God  in  the  har- 
vest. Man  must  labor,  but  God  gives  the  in- 
crease. Without  God,  without  man,  there  would 
be  no  harvest. 

To  man  God  gave  the  living  seed,  the  earth 
into  which  to  plant  it,  the  sun  to  warm,  showers 
to  nourish  and  the  wind  to  fructify.  Hence 
without  God  there  could  be  no  harvest  Man 
may  invent  the  telescope  to  bring  distant  planets 
near,  the  microscope  to  reveal  more  beauty  of 
color  on  the  wing  of  a  fly  than  we  can  see  with 
the  unaided  eye  in  a  flower  garden,  the  electric 
light  to  make  midnight  as  bright  as  noonday ; 
but  he  cannot  invent  a  seed  of  wheat,  or  rye,  or 
corn,  or  oats,  or  rice.  He  cannot  put  into  it  the 
principle  of  life.  God  created  that  seed  and  gave 
it  to  the  father  of  the  race  to  be  handed  down 
through  succeeding  generations  to  nourish  the 
bodies  of  men.  Without  that  seed,  that  earth, 
that  sun,  those  showers,  that  wind,  there  could 
be  no  harvest.  But  there  God  stops  and  man 
must  begin.  He  must  plow,  harrow  and  sow, 
gather  into  barns,  thresh  and  mill  and  bake,  in 


22       AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

order   that   we   may   eat   our   daily   bread    with 
thanksgiving. 

IN   GRACE 

The  same  is  true  of  the  spiritual  harvest.  Here 
also  must  be  the  co-operation  of  the  human  and 
the  divine,  the  means  and  agents,  earthly  and 
heavenly.  Without  Christ  there  is  no  salvation. 
Without  the  Word  and  the  Sacraments  and  the 
Holy  Spirit,  there  are  no  means  by  which  the 
Christ  can  be  known  and  His  grace  applied  for 
salvation  of  men.  True  it  is,  "Whosoever  shall 
call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord  shall  be  saved." 
But  ''How  shall  they  call  upon  Him,  in  whom 
they  have  7iot  believed f  How  shall  they  believe 
in  Him,  of  whom  they  have  not  heard?  And 
how  shall  they  hear  without  a  preacher?  And 
how  shall  they  preach  except  they  be  sent  ?  Faith 
cometh  by  hearing,  and  hearing  by  the  Word  of 
God?'  The  heavenly  treasure  never  reaches  men 
except  through  human  instrumentality.  God 
does  not  baptize,  preach  the  Word  or  administer 
the  Holy  Communion.  The  divine  Word  and  Sac- 
raments have  been  divinely  furnished  in  order 
that  Christians  might  make  disciples  of  the 
nations.  They  must  baptize,  dispense  the  Lord's 
Supper  and  preach  the  Word  to  bring  men  to 
faith  and  holiness  of  life.  It  is  God  co-operating 
with  man,  and  man  co-operating  with  God,  and 
only  thus  can  humanity  be  saved. 

Tlie  reason  for  failure  in  either  case  is  the 


THE  DIVINE  MEANS  AND  TWOFOLD  AGENTS     23 

guilty  neglect  and  perverseness  of  man.  The 
annual  harvest  is  always  sufficient  to  feed  earth's 
teeming  millions.  Should  there  be  scarcity  in 
Canaan,  there  will  be  abundance  in  Eg^^pt.  And 
yet  we  read  that  there  are  millions  who  are  only 
half  fed,  and  thousands  upon  thousands  who 
starve.  Has  not  God  blest  the  labors  of  the 
husbandmen?  Has  He  not  caused  His  sun  to 
shine  and  rain  to  descend  upon  the  fields  of  the 
godly  and  ungodly?  Why,  then,  must  men 
starve  ?  Not  because  of  God,  but  because  of  the 
inhuman  greed  and  selfishness  of  those  who  mis- 
use His  bounty. 

A  farmer,  pious  after  the  fashion  of  many 
professors,  lived  at  the  edge  of  a  town  in  which 
the  mills  and  factories  were  closed  and  many 
were  in  need.  More  pious  than  others,  he  gath- 
ered his  family  morning  and  evening  for  wor- 
ship. As  he  prayed,  he  prayed  that  God  would 
have  mercy  upon  the  hungry  and  send  them  help. 
But,  not  pious  enough,  he  gave  them  nothing. 
One  morning  his  son  said,  "Father,  give  me  the 
wheat  in  the  wheat-bin."  "Why,  my  son?"  "I 
want  to  answer  your  prayer."  It  was  no  prayer. 
It  was  simply  a  mumbling  of  words.  Prayer 
which  will  not  send  us  in  the  way  of  fulfillment, 
with  all  our  power  and  resources,  is  an  hypocrisy. 
God  has  no  wheat  fields  or  flour  mills  in  heaven. 
They  are  on  earth,  in  the  possession  of  His 
creatures,  in  order  to  feed  its  population.     God 


24       AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

blessed  the  labors  of  the  farmer  and  gave  him 
more  than  enough,  in  order  that  he  might  help 
the  needy.  The  failure  is  at  the  distribution- 
point,  at  the  human  end. 

So  it  is  with  the  work  of  salvation.  On  God's 
part  all  has  been  done  that  can  be  done.  Christ 
tasted  death  for  every  man.  In  the  days  of  His 
flesh,  the  oxen  and  the  fatlings  had  been  killed, 
and  all  was  ready  for  the  marriage,  the  consum- 
mation of  redemption.  Why  must  the  chariots 
of  God  still  wait?  Simply  because  we  have  not 
gone  out  into  the  highways  and  hedges  of  the 
country  or  into  the  streets  and  lanes  of  the  city, 
and  by  the  constraining  power  of  love  compelled 
them  to  come  in.  The  all-power  of  Jesus  is  ready 
to  accompany  us.  But  we  have  not  gone  in  His 
Spirit  and  we  are  not  now  going  with  strong 
determination. 

Jewish  peddlers  scurry  through  our  city 
streets  and  scamper  over  our  country  highways. 
With  heavy  packs  on  their  backs,  which  often 
bend  them  double  and  warp  them  out  of  shape, 
they  climb  the  attic  stairs,  descend  to  the  cellars  of 
the  poor,  and  push  into  every  farmhouse.  With 
marvelous  patience  they  display  their  wares  and 
with  dogged  perseverance  they  seek  to  gain  and 
hold  your  trade.  If  our  Christian  men  and 
women  with  the  love  of  Christ  and  souls  in  their 
hearts  and  only  the  weight  of  a  Bible  under  their 
arms,  would  do  as  much  to  save  a  soul  as  these 


THE  DIVINE  MEANS  AND  TWOFOLD  AGENTS     25 

peddlers  to  earn  a  dime,  seasons  of  refreshing 
would  come  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord.  It 
is  in  vain  to  pray,  '*Thy  kingdom  come,  Thy  will 
be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven,"  whilst  we 
put  the  smallest  coin  in  the  missionary  offering 
and  bear  no  witness  for  Christ  in  our  homes  and 
communities.    Without  us  the  work  will  be  done. 

THE  MEANS  OF  GRACE 

These  are  the  Word  and  Sacraments  ordained 
of  God,  to  awaken  faith  and  impart  life  and  sal- 
vation. Some  include  prayer  under  this  heading, 
but  not  wisely.  It  is  a  means  to,  but  not  a  means 
of  grace.  It  is  a  petition  of  man  and  not  a  word 
from  God.  The  divine  promise  on  which  a 
prayer  may  rest,  is  a  word  by  which  God  imparts 
His  grace — a  revelation  of  God;  but  prayer  is  a 
revelation,  not  of  God  but  of  man,  in  which  he 
expresses  his  desires  and  longings.  Every  word 
of  Scriptures  is  in  harmony  with  God  and  by 
which  God  binds  Himself,  but  not  by  every  peti- 
tion even  of  a  saint.  God  is  bound  by  His  and 
not  by  man's  utterances.  These  petitions  can 
only  be  answered  in  as  far  as  they  are  in  har- 
mony with  God's  promise.  Hence  we  cannot  call 
prayer  a  means  of  grace. 

THE    WORD 

Language  separates  man  from  animal  creation. 
The  Word  is  the  outward  expression  of  the  inner 


26       AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

Spirit.  It  is  a  mark  of  personality.  It  is  an  index 
of  character  and  manifests  the  scale  of  knowl- 
edge and  virtue  to  which  one  has  attained.  When 
men  dissemble,  their  speech  betrays  them.  By 
it  the  orator  sways  the  multitude  and  the  general 
directs  the  army.  By  it  men  dispose  of  posses- 
sions, and  accomplish  good  or  evil.  The  word 
of  man  may  save  or  destroy  physical  life.  The 
word  of  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe,  in  "Uncle  Tom's 
Cabin,"  helped  to  free  the  slaves.  The  word  of 
Nelson  spelled  victory  and  that  of  Napoleon 
ruin.    The  word  of  man  is  mighty. 

But  the  Word  of  God  is  almighty.  It  accom- 
plishes that  whereunto  it  is  sent.  It  spake  crea- 
tion into  being.  It  is  that  by  which  we  live.  It 
abideth  forever.  It  heals  the  sick,  raises  the 
dead,  casts  out  demons,  cleanses  and  sanctifies, 
and  imparts  eternal  life.  Whether  we  consider 
the  Word  spoken  or  pondered,  or  written  or  in- 
carnate, it  reveals  God  and  imparts  all  His  treas- 
ures of  grace.  It  is  the  means  through  which 
the  Holy  Spirit  brings  us  into  the  divine  fellow- 
ship and  bestows  life  and  salvation.  It  is  the 
channel  through  which  His  unmerited  favor.  His 
gracious  purpose  and  gifts  are  made  ours  and 
work  in  us  to  will  and  to  do  His  good  pleasure. 
It  is  the  seed,  potent  with  divine  energy,  which 
produces  the  spiritual  harvest.  It  is  the  Word 
of  life  and  salvation. 


THE  DIVINE  MEANS  AND  TWOFOLD  AGENTS     27 
DIVISION   AND  USE 

According  to  time,  we  divide  the  Word  of 
God  into  Old  and  New  Testaments,  the  first 
written  before  and  the  second  after  the  birth  of 
the  Saviour.  According,  to  content,  into  Law 
and  Gospel.  By  the  one  comes  the  knowledge 
of  sin,  by  the  other  the  knowledge  of  salvation. 
The  one  shows  what  the  sinner  is  in  himself,  and 
the  other  what  he  may  become  through  grace. 
By  the  law  no  one  can  be  justified,  and  by  the 
Gospel  no  one  can  be  condemned.  The  law  has 
a  threefold  use :  ( i )  as  a  bar  and  barrier  to 
deter  us  from  the  path  of  destruction,  (2)  as  a 
mirror  in  which  we  see  our  deeds  as  they  really 
are,  and  (3)  as  an  impelling  force,  a  school- 
master, to  show  us  our  sin,  to  bring  us  to  Christ 
and  to  direct  us  in  the  way  of  holy  living.  The 
Gospel,  the  message  of  saving  grace,  is  the  power 
of  God  unto  salvation  to  every  believer.  The 
one  expresses  the  righteous  purpose  and  the  other 
the  gracious  purpose  of  God.  Both  are  con- 
tained in  the  Old  Testament,  and  in  their  full- 
ness in  the  New. 

The  Sacraments  are  those  ordinances  insti- 
tuted by  Christ  and  to  be  observed  by  man,  in 
which,  under  visible  and  external  elements,  the 
grace  of  God  is  extended  to  every  participant 
and  appropriated  by  every  believer.  We  here 
have  the  Word  in  all  its  potency,  joined  to  earthly 
elements.     In   Baptism   it  is   water,  and  in  the 


28       AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

Holy  Communion  bread  and  the  fruit  of  the  vine 
through,  in  and  by  which,  after  the  manner  of  a 
sacramental,  and  not  physical,  union,  the  inward 
and  invisible  elements  are  imparted.  Jesus  com- 
manded that  all  should  be  baptized,  and  that  all 
His  followers  should  commune  with  Him  in  the 
holy  ordinance  until  He  should  come  again. 

The  Sacraments  individualize  to  us  the  grace 
of  God.  The  administrant  says,  'T  baptize  thee 
in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and 
of  the  Holy  Ghost" ;  he  says  to  the  communicant 
as  he  gives  him  the  bread,  "Take  and  eat,  this  is 
the  body  of  Christ  given  for  thee" ;  and  with  the 
cup,  *'Take  and  drink,  this  is  the  blood  of  the 
New  Testament  shed  for  thy  sins."  It  is  an  in- 
dividual application  of  the  word  of  grace,  first 
at  our  admission  into  the  Covenant  and  then 
amid  the  trials  and  perplexities  of  life.  We  com- 
mune with  Him  in  remembrance  of  His  conflict 
and  triumph.  When  Queen  Elizabeth  was  asked 
concerning  the  mystery  in  the  Supper  and  her 
conception  of  the  same,  she  said: 

"Christ  was  the  Word  and  spake  it; 
He  took  the  bread  and  break  it ; 
And  what  that  Word  did  make  it 
That  I  believe  and  take  it." 

These,  then,  are  the  means  of  grace,  by  and 
through  which  the  work  of  God  is  done.  They 
are  the  instruments,  as  it  were,  with  which  the 


THE  DIVINE  MEANS  AND  TWOFOLD  AGENTS     29 

Spiritual  house  is  to  be  built  for  an  habitation 
of  God.  In  them  is  God's  saving  power,  and  to 
grant  what  they  declare  He  stands  unalterably 
pledged.  The  how  we  leave  to  Him.  When  faith 
lays  hold  upon  Christ  and  what  they  declare  and 
set  forth,  then  the  triune  God,  with  all  His  saving 
and  renewing  grace,  enters  the  believer  and  makes 
him  His  temple.  But  alas,  so  many  attempt  to 
do  the  divine  work  with  no  appreciation  of  the 
divine  means  and  often  without  them.  Instead 
of  proceeding  with  the  ''foolishness  of  preach- 
ing," they  preach  foolishness  and  discard  the 
Sacraments. 

THE    MEANS   AND   AGENT 

The  Word  of  God  and  the  Sacraments  are  the 
means  of  grace,  administered  by  man  and  accom- 
panied by  the  Holy  Spirit,  through  which  the 
unsaved  are  brought  into  saving  relation  with 
God.  The  Word  is  called  the  "Seed,"  ''the  in- 
corruptible seed,"  which  abideth  forever.  This 
seed  is  scattered  by  man  as  God's  agent. 

In  Matt.  13:38,  Jesus  says,  "The  good  seed 
are  the  sons  of  the  kingdom."  Paul,  in  Rom. 
9 : 8,  says,  "It  is  not  the  children  of  the  flesh  that 
are  the  children  of  God;  but  the  children  of 
promise  are  reckoned  for  the  seed."  The  chil- 
dren of  the  kingdom  as  God's  seed  are  at  one 
and  the  same  time  a  means  of  grace  and  agents 
of  God.    The  Saviour  on  the  one  hand  parallels 


30       AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

the  witnessing  of  the  Spirit  with  the  witnessing 
of  the  saints,  so  on  the  other  He  parallels  the 
incorruptible  seed  which  is  the  Word  of  God 
with  the  children  of  the  kingdom.  These  are  the 
living  epistles,  read  and  known  of  all  men.  They 
have  the  Word  written  not  on  tables  of  stone, 
but  engraven  on  their  hearts.  When  from  the 
tablets  of  their  hearts  and  from  the  love  that 
beams  from  their  faces  with  a  glory  like  that  of 
Moses  and  from  the  deeds  done  by  hands  that 
are  clean,  sinners  behold  reincarnations  of  the 
Christ  and  fellow-workers  with  God  and  co- 
witnesses  of  the  Spirit,  then  the  Saviour  will  see 
the  travail  of  His  soul  and  be  satisfied,  then  the 
vv'ork  of  missions  at  home  will  stimulate  the  work 
abroad,  the  fullness  of  the  Gentiles  will  be 
brought  in  and  the  way  of  the  Lord  shall  have 
been  made  straight  for  His  advent  in  glory. 

Agents  must  administer  the  means  of  grace, 
they  are  not  self-administrants.  Christ  left  their 
administration  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  divine,  and 
holy  men,  the  human.  The  Saviour  began  the 
work  as  the  divine  and  human  Mediator  to  rec- 
oncile us  to  God.  Without  divinity  and  without 
humanity.  He  could  not  be  a  Saviour  from  sin 
and  death.  When  Jesus  was  about  to  die  for 
our  sins,  rise  again  for  our  justification  and  enter 
into  the  holy  of  holies  with  His  own  blood  and 
there  to  abide  until  He  should  come  again  to 
complete  the  work,  He  spake  of  the  other  Para- 


THE  DIVINE  MEANS  AND  TWOFOLD  AGENTS     31 

clete  who  was  to  be  His  representative  or  agent 
during  His  visible  absence.  As  Jesus  was  man's 
Advocate,  who,  because  of  His  substitution,  suf- 
fering and  death,  stands  and  pleads  for  the  be- 
liever in  the  courts  of  heaven,  the  Holy  Spirit 
was  to  be  God's  Advocate  to  present  God's  claim 
upon  men  by  convincing  them,  through  the  means 
of  grace,  of  sin,  and  righteousness  and  judgment, 
by  awakening  faith  in  Christ  and  guiding  into 
truth  and  holiness  of  life.  This  is  the  office  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.  He  is  a  witness  of  Jesus,  the 
divine  witness,  and  takes  the  things  of  Christ 
and  makes  them  ours. 

The  divine  and  the  human,  united  in  one 
person,  effected  redemption  and  made  reconcilia- 
tion possible — opened  a  new  and  living  way  of 
access  to  God.  It  requires  the  Holy  Spirit  and 
men  animated  by  that  Spirit  to  apply  this  re- 
demption. The  Holy  Spirit  never  converts  a 
man  unless  the  means  of  grace  are  brought  to 
that  man  by  a  fellow-man.  As  the  Saviour  was 
brought  into  the  world  through  the  agency  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  so  those  who  are  to  co-operate  with 
that  Spirit  must  be  born  of  that  Spirit,  born 
from  above. 

In  John  15:26,  27,  the  Saviour  assigns  the 
same  office  and  functions  to  the  believer  as  he 
does  to  the  Holy  Spirit :  *'He  shall  bear  witness  of 
me  and  ye  shall  also  bear  witness."  The  two 
must  work  on  parallel  lines,  must  work  together. 


32       AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

The  Holy  Spirit  has  no  approach  until  a  holy 
man  opens  the  way.  The  Ethiopian  could  not 
understand  the  witness  of  the  Spirit  in  Isaiah 
until  the  human  witness,  Philip,  prepared  the  way. 
It  was  the  disciples  whom  Jesus  had  taught  and 
whom  He  brought  to  faith  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
baptized  with  that  Spirit-baptism  on  Pentecost. 
Before  the  three  thousand  were  added  to  the 
Church,  Peter  and  the  eleven  had  stood  up  and 
witnessed.  It  was  Philip  who  opened  the  Scrip- 
tures to  the  Ethiopian  eunuch,  and  thus  opened 
his  heart  to  the  Spirit.  It  was  while  Peter  spake 
and  testified,  and  not  before,  in  the  house  of 
Cornelius,  that  the  "Holy  Spirit  fell  on  them 
which  heard  the  Word."  The  Word  is  con- 
firmed by  two  witnesses,  the  divine  and  human. 

The  Word  itself  came  into  the  world  not 
through  the  Holy  Spirit  alone — ''Holy  men  spake 
as  they  were  moved  by  the  Spirit  of  God"  It 
was  the  believing  disciples  who  were  to  be  led 
into  all  truth  and  through  whom  the  New  Testa- 
ment was  to  be  given  to  the  world.  The  unhe- 
lieving  world  does  not  and  cannot  receive  the 
Spirit,  nor  can  it  know  the  things  of  the  Spirit, 
for  they  are  spiritually  discerned.  The  carnal 
mind  is  enmity  against  God.  But  believers  know 
the  Spirit,  for  He  dwelleth  in  them,  and  hence 
they  become  the  medium  through  whom  the 
Spirit  can  bring  the  world  to  Christ. 

Atigels,  though  ministering  spirits  to  the  heirs 


THE  DIVINE  MEANS  AND  TWOFOLD  AGENTS     33 

of  salvation,  cannot  discharge  this  function. 
They  have  never  tasted  of  dying  love.  They 
can  witness  to  a  saving  fact — not  to  a  saving 
experience.  They  may  proclaim  the  saving  fact 
of  the  Saviour's  birth  and  resurrection,  they  may 
be  serviceable  in  many  ways,  but  they  must  direct 
Philip  to  open  the  Scriptures  to  the  Ethiopian 
eunuch  and  Peter  to  proclaim  the  Word  to  Cor- 
nelius before  the  Holy  Spirit  can  take  of  the 
things  of  Jesus  and  impart  them.  The  angel  told 
Cornelius  that  his  prayers  and  alms  were  gone 
up  as  a  memorial  to  God,  but  in  the  matter  of 
his  salvation  directed :  "Send  to  Joppa  and  fetch 
Simon,  whose  surname  is  Peter;  who  shall  speak 
unto  thee  zvords,  zvhereby  thou  shalt  be  saved, 
thou  and  all  thy  house."  (Acts  11:13,  14.) 
And  as  he  spoke  the  words,  the  Holy  Ghost  fell 
on  them.  Only  those  who  have  had  the  experi- 
ence of  salvation  can  be  co-witnesses  with  the 
Holy  Spirit.  The  sinner  saved  helps  to  save  the 
unsaved.  God  requires  such,  for  even  the  divine 
Spirit  can  have  no  personal  experience  of  saving 
grace,  and  hence  in  the  last  analysis  the  progress 
of  the  work  depends  upon  the  efficiency,  diligence 
and  purity  of  the  human  instrumentality. 


CHAPTER  II 

The   Human   Agents:   Their   Fundamental 
Function 
"Christ  alone  can  save  the  world, 
But  Christ  cannot  save  the  v^^orld,  alone." 

THE   HUMAN   AGENTS 

Men  must  be  reached  and  saved,  and  for  this 
purpose  the  Holy  Spirit  uses  those  who  are  in  a 
state  of  salvation.  Whilst  we  attribute  creation 
to  the  Father,  redemption  to  the  Son  and  sancti- 
fication  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  we  must  not  overlook 
that  the  account  of  creation  in  Genesis  fore- 
shadows both  the  unity  and  trinity  of  God  and 
indicates  the  presence  and  activity  of  the  Father, 
the  Spirit  and  the  Word.  God  loves,  the  Son 
atones  and  the  Spirit  applies. 

the  triune  functions 

1.  Co-laborers  with  the  Father:  ''For  we  are 
laborers  together  with  God :  Ye  are  God's  hus- 
bandry. Ye  are  God's  building  .  .  .  We  then 
as  ivorkers  together  zvith  Him,  beseech  you  also 
that  ye  receive  not  the  grace  of  God  in  vain." 
(i  Cor.  3:9;  6:  I.) 

2.  Co-sufferers  with  the  Son:  "Who  now  re- 
joice in  my  sufferings  for  you,  and  fill  up  that 

34 


THE  HUMAN  AGENTS  35 

which  is  behind  of  the  afflictions  of  Christ  in  my 
flesh,  for  His  body's  sake  which  is  the  Church, 
whereof  I  was  made  a  minister."  (Col.  i :  24.) 
3.  Co-witnesses  with  the  Spirit:  "When  the 
Comforter  is  come,  even  the  Spirit  of  truth.  He 
shall  bear  zvitness  of  me,  and  ye  also  shall  bear 
witness  because  ye  have  been  with  me  from  the 
beginning."  (John  12:26,  27.)  "And  we  are 
witnesses  of  these  things,  and  so  also  is  the  Holy 
Ghost  whom  God  hath  given  them  that  obey 
Him."     (Acts  5:32.) 

CLERGY  AND  LAITY 

To  the  Church  as  the  body  of  Christ,  filled 
with  and  directed  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  work 
was  committed.  The  members  which  compose 
this  body  are  many,  and  all  do  not  have  the  same 
office,  but  they  are  nowhere  designated  as  cleri- 
cal and  lay  members.  It  was  to  the  Church,  in- 
dividually and  collectively,  the  500  in  Galilee  and 
the  120  in  Jerusalem,  that  the  commission  for 
world  evangelization  was  given. 

The  minister,  like  every  other  Christian,  is  re- 
sponsible to  the  extent  of  his  ability  and  oppor- 
tunity, no  more  and  no  less.  His  ordination  has 
not  bestowed  upon  him  any  special  prerogatives, 
powers  or  functions  which  an  ordinary  layman 
dare  not  exercise,  nay,  which  he  dare  not  neglect 
to  exercise  to  the  extent  of  his  ability  and  oppor- 
tunity.    The  ministry  is  an  office  of,  in  and  by 


36       AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

the  Church,  authorized  indeed  by  Christ,  but  in 
and  of  itself  no  more  sacred  than  that  of  a  deacon 
or  an  organist.  The  difference  between  them  is 
in  the  importance  of  the  things  he  handles  and 
the  manner  in  which  he  magnifies  his  office. 
With  his  functions  within  the  congregation  no 
one  may  interfere,  any  more  than  he  can  inter- 
fere with  the  office  of  deacon  or  organist.  As 
no  one  may  play  the  organ  except  the  organist 
in  the  congregation,  so  no  one  may  displace  the 
minister.  However,  the  deacon,  organist  and 
every  other  member  will  be  encouraged  to  wit- 
ness for  Christ  and  proclaim  the  message  of  sal- 
vation both  in  and  out  of  the  congregation  by 
all  but  a  presumptuous  autocrat  in  the  pulpit. 
So  long  as  they  testify  to  the  truth  as  it  is  in 
Christ  Jesus  they  are  fulfilling  their  stewardship 
with  which  no  one  may  interfere.  Because  you 
may  not  displace  the  organist  at  the  organ  as- 
signed to  him,  or  the  preacher  in  the  pulpit 
assigned  to  him,  does  not  prevent  you  from  play- 
ing the  organ  to  the  glory  of  God  or  testifying 
to  the  grace  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus  in  other 
places.  Hierarchism,  sacerdotalism  and  clerical- 
ism are  not  of  God.  The  ministry  is  an  office, 
high  and  glorious,  and  no  servant  of  God  will  on 
the  one  hand  be  interfered  with  by  his  devout 
people,  or  on  the  other  will  do  aught  but  encour- 
age every  layman  to  exercise  the  gift  of  God 
within  him  for  the  glorification  of  His  name. 


THE  HUMAN  AGENTS  2>T 

In  the  ApostQlic  Church  the  apostles  were 
not  divinely  endowed  with  any  special  gift  which 
did  not  belong  to  or  was  beyond  the  humblest 
believer. 

Stephen  was  not  an  apostle.  He  was  not 
even  an  ordained  minister  of  the  Gospel.  He 
was  one  of  the  seven  deacons  whom  the  Church 
selected  to  serve  tables.  But  that  did  not  pre- 
vent him  from  preaching  Christ  in  the  syna- 
gogues and  to  the  Council  and  to  the  multitude 
in  that  remarkable  sermon  contained  in  the 
seventh  chapter  of  the  book  of  the  Acts.  That 
did  not  prevent  him  from  exercising  those  charis- 
mata which  some  have  claimed  as  the  exclusive 
prerogatives  of  the  apostles  and  clergy. 
"Stephen,  full  of  grace  and  power,  wrought 
^grcat  ivonders  and  signs  among  the  people."  He 
entered  into  the  synagogues  of  the  Libertines, 
and  of  the  Cyrenians,  and  of  the  Alexandrians, 
and  of  them  of  Cilicia  and  Asia  and  preached 
Christ  unto  them.  "And  they  were  not  able  to 
withstand  the  wisdom  and  the  Spirit  by  which 
he  spake."  Paul  of  Tarsus  v/as  a  member  of  the 
Synagogue  of  Cilicia;  and  there  that  proud 
Pharisee,  educated  at  the  feet  of  the  great 
Gamaliel,  had  met  Stephen  before  the  day  he 
held  the  garments  of  those  who  stoned  him  and 
consented  to  their  deed.  He  was  chagrined, 
humiliated  and  maddened  because  he  was  not 
able  to  withstand  the  wisdom  and   Spirit  with 


38       AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

which  Stephen  spake.  But  it  was  the  testimony 
of  Stephen  and  his  prayer  which  led  to  the  sight 
of  Jesus  on  the  Damascus  road  and  turned  Saul 
of  Tarsus  into  Paul  the  apostle  of  Jew^s  and 
Gentiles. 

Philip  was  also  a  layman.  He,  too,  was  one 
of  the  seven  selected  to  serve  tables.  But  he 
served  Christ  in  more  than  tables.  We  read: 
"And  Philip  went  down  to  the  city  of  Samaria, 
and  proclaimed  unto  them  the  Christ.  And  the 
multitudes  gave  heed  wath  one  accord  unto  the 
things  which  were  spoken  by  Philip,  when  they 
heard,  and  saw  the  signs  which  he  did.  For 
from  many  of  those  that  had  unclean  spirits,  they 
came  out,  crying  with  a  loud  voice:  and  many 
that  zvere  palsied,  and  that  were  lame,  were 
healed.  And  there  was  much  joy  in  that  city." 
(Acts  8 :  5-8.)  Here  again  we  see  that  the  power 
of  working  miracles  w^as  not  the  exclusive  func- 
tion of  the  apostles  but  belonged  to  the  laity  also, 
to  the  whole  Apostolic  Church.  Here  Samaria 
is  brought  to  Christ  by  a  layman.  We  must  not 
forget  that  it  was  that  same  Philip  w^ho  opened 
the  Scriptures  to  the  Ethiopian  eunuch  and  bap- 
tized him.  We  need  the  apostolic  conception  and 
fervor — a  missionary  Church. 

Some  will  say  that  deacons  were  an  order  of 
the  clergy.  Such  an  answer  is  doubly  wrong: 
first,  there  is  no  order,  but  an  office  of  the  clergy ; 
and,  secondly,  the  diaconate  is  a  separate  and  dis- 


THE  HUMAN  AGENTS  39 

tinct  office  from  the  clergy,  and  yet  may,  as  in 
these  cases,  exercise  the  same  functions,  and  that 
because  they  belong  to  all  Christians. 

"The  Church  which  was  at  Jerusalem"  was 
a  witnessing  Church,  a  congregation  of  wit- 
nesses. This  company  numbered  one  hundred 
and  twenty  at  the  Ascension.  No  doubt  many 
of  the  three  thousand  converted  at  Pentecost 
became  members  of  the  Church  in  Jerusalem. 
In  Acts  2 :  47  we  learn  that  *'the  Lord  added  to 
the  Church  day  by  day  those  that  were  being 
saved."  "Many  of  them  that  heard  the  Word 
believed,  and  the  number  of  the  men  came  to  be 
about  five  thousand."  (Acts  4:  4.)  In  the  fifth 
chapter  it  is  written  that  "believers  were  added 
to  the  Lord,  multitudes  both  of  men  and  women, 
as  signs  and  wonders  were  wrought  by  the  hands 
of  the  apostles,"  in  Solomon's  porch.  In  the 
sixth  chapter  we  read,  "And  the  Word  of  God 
increased ;  and  the  number  of  disciples  multiplied 
in  Jenisalem  exceedingly;  and  a  great  company 
of  priests  were  obedient  to  the  faith."  Now  the 
Church  which  was  at  Jerusalem  had  only  twelve 
apostles  at  most,  and  seven  deacons,  and  the  rest 
were  laymen  without  office.  Note  what  happened 
and  with  what  results.  "And  there  arose  on  that 
day  a  great  persecution  against  the  Church  which 
was  in  Jerusalem;  and  they  were  all  scattered 
throughout  the  regions  of  Judea  and  Samaria, 
except    the    apostles."     The    apostles    alone    re- 


40       AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

mained  in  Jerusalem.  The  rest  of  the  Church — 
the  seven  deacons,  "the  five  thousand  men,"  the 
added  ''multitudes  both  of  men  and  women"  and 
''the  number  of  disciples  multiplied  in  Jerusalem 
exceedingly" — were  all  scattered  abroad.  Was 
preaching  the  Word  and  witnessing  to  Jesus  the 
exclusive  function  of  apostles  and  deacons,  or 
was  it  the  function  of  the  whole  Church,  of 
every  member  of  the  same?  We  read,  ''They 
therefore  that  zvere  scattered  abroad  zvent  about 
preaching  the  Word!'  (Acts  8:4.)  This  puts 
it  beyond  the  possibility  of  a  doubt  that  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  means  of  grace  is  the  func- 
tion of  every  Christian,  which  function  in  the 
properly  organized  Church  belongs  to  the  minis- 
try alone. 

The  Reforrnation.  When  the  Church  in 
the  days  of  the  Reformation  was  again  restored 
to  apostolic  purity  in  faith  and  life,  the  doctrine 
of  the  universal  priesthood  of  believers  was  re- 
asserted and  the  laity  restored  to  parity  with  the 
clergy.  It  was  not  the  theologians,  but  the  elec- 
tors, princes  and  representatives  of  the  cities 
who  testified  at  Augsburg  and  (even  Melanch- 
thon,  who  gave  form  to  that  Confession,  was  a 
layman)  who  signed  their  names  to  the  immortal 
declaration.  That  tremendous  movement  which 
is  still  pressing  forward  was  not  the  exclusive 
work  of  the  clergy,  but  of  the  whole  Church. 
All  were  absorbed  in  doing  the  will  and  accom- 


THE  HUMAN  AGENTS  41 

plishing  the  work  of  the  Master.  It  was  this 
movement,  the  impetus  of  which  was  caught  up 
by  the  Wesleys  from  the  writings  of  Luther, 
which  spread  with  power  through  England  and 
America. 

Luther's  Teaching.  Dr.  Hay,  Vol.  II, 
"The  Theology  of  Luther,"  page  86,  sums  up 
Luther's  teaching  on  the  priesthood  of  believers, 
the  functions  of  the  laity,  in  the  following  seven 
propositions: 

**i.  The  proclamation  of  the  Word. 

"2.  Baptism,  which  even  women  are  allowed 
to  administer. 

"3.  The  administration  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 
The  command  of  Christ,  'Do  this  in  remem- 
brance of  me,'  is  addressed  to  all. 

'*4.  The  binding  and  loosing  of  sin,  the  author- 
ity for  which  is  according  to  Matt.  18,  committed 
to  the  entire  congregation^  and  which  is  nothing 
more  than  the  proclamation  and  application  of 
the  Gospel. 

''5.  The  rendering  of  sacrifice,  according  to 
Rom.  12 :  I,  and  i  Peter  2 :  5,  i.  e.,  the  crucifixion 
of  one's  flesh,  and  the  sacrifice  of  praise  and 
thanksgiving. 

''6.  Priestly  intercession  for  others  before  God 
in  prayer. 

"7.  Independent  judgment  of  dogmas  in  the 
light  of  Holy  Scriptures." 

Christian    Democracy.      It    is    the    doctrine 


42       AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

of  democracy  and  freedom,  which  we  laud  in 
word  and  throttle  in  practice,  that  must  become 
a  conviction  so  deep  and  a  force  so  strong  as 
to  sweep  away  the  remnants  of  mediaeval  Rom- 
anism which  still  skulk  among  us,  marshal  the 
whole  Church  into  an  army  terrible  with  ban- 
ners, and  lead  it  to  victory  against  the  strong- 
holds of  Satan.  The  wars  of  the  Lord  will  never 
be  won  by  the  few  clergy  any  more  than  the 
wars  of  the  nations  by  a  few  generals.  The 
great  conflict  with  the  Central  Powers  was  won 
because  every  general  and  soldier  followed  a  cen- 
tralized and  unified  leadership,  because  all  the 
economic  power  of  all  the  nations  was  placed  at 
its  service,  and  because  every  man,  woman  and 
child  gave  to  the  cause  their  full  measure  of 
devotion.  The  whole  Church,  clergy  and  laity, 
each  and  all  discharging  their  God-given  pre- 
rogatives, must  go  forward  in  His  name  and  in 
His  strength.  Then  the  world  will  be  constrained 
to  believe,  to  its  joy  and  salvation. 

THE  ABSOLUTELY  ESSENTIAL  FUNCTION 

Paul  enumerates  among  the  agents  of  the 
Church  in  his  day:  apostles,  prophets,  teachers, 
workers  of  miracles,  gifts  of  healing,  helps,  wise 
counsels  or  governments,  and  divers  kinds  of 
tongues,  deacons,  deaconesses,  bishops,  presby- 
ters. In  other  parts  of  the  New  Testament  are 
mentioned  ambassadors,  stewards,  heralds,  shep- 


THE  HUMAN  AGENTS  43 

herds,  evangelists,  etc.  Some  of  these  were 
temporary,  serving  special  needs  and  exercising 
functions  which  ceased — such  as  healing,  tongues 
and  miracles — after  the  apostolic  period.  Others, 
like  the  presbyters  and  bishops,  expressed  differ- 
ent phases  of  the  same  office.  But  all  the  offices 
belong  to  the  Church,  and,  according  to  the  com- 
mand of  Christ,  are  for  the  administration  of 
Word  and  Sacrament  and  for  carrying  on  and 
fulfilling  the  work.  They  are  for  the  edifying 
of  the  body  of  Christ  and  for  the  work  of  the 
ministry  in  its  various  phases  among  the  chil- 
dren of  men.  Names  and  designations,  styles 
and  titles  of  offices,  may  vary.  The  saving  pur- 
pose must  ever  be  uppermost. 

Witness-hearing,  in  addition  to  co-working 
and  co-suffering,  is  the  absolutely  essential  func- 
tion which  must  characterize  every  Christian, 
whether  he  bear  office  or  not,  in  order  that  he 
may  be  a  co-witness  with  the  Holy  Spirit.  The 
human  agent  must  co-ordinate  with  the  divine. 
This  twofold  witnessing,  man  and  the  Holy 
Spirit,  is  the  assurance  of  victory.  A  witness- 
ing Church  is  a  conquering  Church,  and  there 
can  be  no  real  advance  in  our  missionary  enter- 
prise without  witness-bearing.  The  prerequisite 
which  Peter  laid  down,  as  necessary  in  the  one 
to  be  chosen  to  fill  the  vacancy  of  Judas,  was 
that  he  must  "become  a  witness  with  us."  He 
must  preach  and  heal,  he  must  labor  and  pray, 


44       AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

but  in  it  all  he  must  be  a  witness  to  the  Saviour 
and  the  saving  experience  of  the  Gospel. 

This  is  what  made  the  Apostolic  Church  such 
a  power.  Peter  could  say  for  them  all,  *'We  did 
not  follow  cunningly  devised  fables,  when  we 
made  known  to  you  the  power  and  coming  of 
Jesus,  but  we  were  QyQ-witnesses  of  His 
majesty."  John  could  say,  'That  which  we  have 
seen  with  our  own  eyes,  and  that  which  we  be- 
held and  our  hands  have  handled  concerning  the 
word  of  life,  declare  we  unto  you."  Though 
Paul  never  saw  Jesus  except  in  vision,  he  could 
say,  *T  know  in  whom  I  have  believed,"  and  it 
''pleased  God  to  reveal  His  own  Son  in  me." 
This  made  Luther  the  hero  of  the  Reformation 
and  the  prophet  of  these  modern  ages :  he  had 
experienced  the  saving  grace  and  fellowship  with 
God,  and  thus  became  a  witness. 

The  Constituent  Elements.  Two  things  con- 
stitute a  witness.  He  must  know  and  tell.  Like 
Peter,  John,  Paul  and  Luther,  he  must  person- 
ally know.  No  man  can  be  a  witness  in  a  court 
of  justice  in  civil  affairs,  or  before  an  individual 
or  multitude  in  affairs  of  salvation,  who  has  not 
had  personal  knowledge  of  the  things  to  which 
he  testifies.  Hearsay,  valuable  as  it  may  be,  will 
not  answer. 

So  many  members  of  the  Church  are  simply' 
parrots.  They  retain  in  memory  certain  words 
and   phrases,   and   they   repeat   them,   often   ad 


THE  HUMAN  AGENTS  45 

nauseam,  with  no  more  heart  in  them  than  has 
that  crooked-billed  bird  in  the  things  it  repeats. 
They  are  like  the  disc  of  a  phonograph.  The 
preacher  or  Bible  school  teacher  has  covered  the 
memory  with  a  number  of  religious  truths  on 
Sunday,  and  then  during  the  week  says  them  ojf 
to  his  listening  friends  with  no  more  conception 
or  experience  of  their  importance  and  value  than 
has  the  metal  disc  of  the  things  it  repeats.  Such 
people  are  a  pretence  and  impertinence.  They 
do  not  personally  know,  and  hence  they  cannot 
tell  with  effectiveness.  Catechetical  instruction, 
as  a  means  to  an  end,  is  most  excellent,  but  if 
the  catechumen  never  passes  from  objective 
knowledge  to  subjective  comprehension,  from  in- 
formation to  inward  experience,  it  is  as  useless 
as  the  noisy  shoutings  of  the  mourners  at  the 
bench.  Before  Charles  G.  Finney  began  that  re- 
vival movement,  he  waited  and  prayed,  and  medi- 
tated upon  the  Word  until  through  a  personal 
experience  he  personally  knew  that  God  was, 
that  Jesus  was  the  Saviour,  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
was  the  other  Paraclete,  and  that  the  Bible  was 
the  divine  revelation.  If  all  our  preachers  and 
all  our  laity  had  such  personal  certainty,  what 
a  power  the  Christian  Church  would  be!  It 
would  be  irresistible.     But  can  we  know? 

We  Do  Knoiv.  The  Christian  can  and  does 
know.  We  belong  to  two  worlds :  the  material 
and  the  spiritual.     We  are  related  to  both  and 


46       AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

have  the  faculties  by  which  to  communicate  with 
both.  Through  our  five  senses  we  come  into  con- 
tact with,  and  knowledge  of,  the  world  of  matter. 
By  my  sense  of  sight  I  see  before  me  men,  women 
and  children  and  can  distinguish  one  from  the 
other.  By  my  sense  of  taste  I  distinguish  be- 
tween that  which  to  me  is  pleasant  or  displeas- 
ing. And  thus  through  my  senses  I  have  been 
endowed  with  the  power  of  knowing  and  enjoy- 
ing this  material  world. 

Spiritual  Insight.  But  my  spirit  also  has,  as 
it  were,  senses  by  which  I  come  into  contact 
with  the  realm  of  Spirit,  of  thought,  of  heaven. 
I  do  not  hear  Him  with  the  hearing  of  the  ear, 
nor  see  Him  with  the  seeing  of  the  eye.  But 
the  pure  in  heart  see  God.  They  taste  Him. 
They  know  Him.  He  has  given  us  an  under- 
standing by  which  we  distinguish  the  true  from 
the  false  and  a  conscience  by  which  we  discrimi- 
nate between  right  and  wrong.  He  has  given  me 
a  spirit  through  which  the  Holy  Spirit,  when  the 
approach  is  made,  communicates  with  my  spirit 
and  assures  me  that  I  am  a  child  of  God. 

Understanding.  How  did  Columbus  come  to 
discover  a  new  continent?  He  had  never  seen 
it,  and  had  not  even  seen  a  man  who  had.  He 
had  only  seen  certain  charts,  and  faulty  ones  at 
that.  But  he  had  heard  a  certain  rumor  con- 
cerning the  sailings  of  the  vikings.  He  had  a 
clear  understanding  and  knowledge  that  the  earth 


THE  HUMAN  AGENTS  47 

is  round,  and  he  knew  that  by  continuing  west- 
ward he  must  inevitably  return  to  the  place  from 
which  he  started,  and  if  there  were  land  between, 
of  which  he  was  convinced,  he  would  find  it,  and 
he  did. 

Have  we  not  seen  charts  of  God's  dealing  with 
our  race  from  creation  to  re-creation?  We  have 
heard  rumors  concerning  that  wonderful  Child 
born  amid  the  lowing  herd  of  the  stable,  over 
which  angels  sang  the  new  creation's  song  and 
God's  glory  shone.  We  have  heard  of  His  mar- 
velous life,  miraculous  death,  resurrection,  ascen- 
sion, the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit,  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Church  and  the  blessings  which  fol- 
low in  its  train.  We  have  an  understanding  by 
which  we  can  reason  it  out,  how  this  unspeak- 
able gift  of  our  God  fits  into  our  lives  as  a  key 
fits  into  its  lock,  and  that  there  is  no  other  name 
given  among  men  whereby  we  can  be  saved,  ex- 
cept the  name  of  Jesus.  He  who  studies  the 
divine  charts  and  examines  that  divine  life  with 
a  good  and  honest  heart  must  know  that  Jesus 
of  Nazareth,  approved  of  God,  is  the  only 
Redeemer. 

Even  if,  through  the  mistakes  of  copyists  and 
others,  discrepancies  and  errors,  real  and  alleged, 
are  to  be  found  in  the  Bible,  this  will  not  prevent 
the  Scriptures  from  infalliby  leading  us  to  Christ. 
Even  the  faulty  charts  served  their  purpose,  and 
the  infallible  truth,  the  rotundity  of  the  earth, 


48       AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

brought  Columbus  inevitably  to  the  New  World. 
The  Scriptures  bring  us  to  Christ,  and  the  infal- 
lible Christ  imparts  life  and  salvation.  Not  the 
Bible,  precious  Book  as  it  is,  but  Christ,  is  our 
Saviour. 

Faith.  Understanding  and  reason  are  not 
sufficient  to  lead  us  to  God  and  salvation  (the 
heathen  also  possess  these),  yet  they  form  the 
contact  through  w^hich  the  human  and  divine  wit- 
nesses make  their  approach,  and  faith  is  begotten 
in  those  who  receive  with  meekness  the  ingrafted 
Word.  The  Word  is  the  seed,  sown  by  Chris- 
tians, watered  by  the  Spirit,  warmed  by  the  Sun 
of  Righteousness,  which  produces  faith  and 
brings  forth  fruit. 

Through  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  and  the 
administration  of  the  Sacraments  comes  a  confi- 
dence and  a  steadfast  assurance  into  the  heart  of 
every  honest  seeker,  that  the  things,  of  which 
Word  and  Sacrament  declare,  are  true.  It  is 
''faith,"  which  Paul  declares  *'is  the  substance  of 
things  hoped  for  and  the  evidence  of  things  un- 
seen." Faith  has  in  its  grasp  the  very  substance 
of  the  things  hoped  for  and  the  proof  and  dem- 
onstration of  those  things  unseen.  By  faith  I 
enter  into  fellowship  and  commune  with  God, 
and  by  it  heaven  and  the  things  of  the  world  to 
come  become  living  and  vivid  realities.  By  faith 
Moses  walked  as  seeing  Him  that  is  invisible. 
By  faith  Enoch  walked  with  God,  enjoyed  His 


THE  HUMAN  AGENTS  49 

companionship,  and  was  translated  that  he 
should  not  see  death.  It  was  thus  that  Paul, 
and  Augustine,  and  Luther,  and  all  the  worthies 
from  the  days  of  righteous  Abel  to  our  own  day, 
lived  above  this  world  in  the  light  and  glory  of 
heaven. 

ADDITIONAL  TESTS 

These  would  be  sufficient,  but  as  God  has  given 
us  line  upon  line,  and  precept  upon  precept,  so 
He  furnishes  us  assurance  upon  assurance.  We 
are  here  dealing  with  infallible  things,  and  we 
have  two  infallible  tests:  prayer  and  obedience. 

Prayer.  Professor  Morse,  after  he  had  as- 
sured himself  that  messages  could  be  sent  over 
the  wire  by  means  of  invisible  electricity,  went 
before  Congress  in  its  session  (1842-3)  and 
asked  for  an  appropriation  of  thirty  thousand 
dollars  to  establish  a  demonstrating  station  be- 
tween Washington  and  Baltimore.  A  committee 
of  twelve,  with  a  thirteenth  as  chairman,  was  ap- 
pointed, with  full  power  to  act.  All  morning  the 
professor  explained  and  argued  with  the  com- 
mittee, and,  when  the  vote  was  cast,  six  were 
for  and  six  against  the  appropriation,  and  the 
chairman  was  undecided.  It  was  agreed  to  meet 
again  after  the  noon  recess.  During  the  interim, 
Professor  Morse  took  the  chairman  to  a  large 
upper  room  in  the  hotel,  where  wires  were  strung 
from  end  to  end.  After  having  instructed  him 
how  to  receive  and  send  messages,  he  placed  him 


50       AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

at  one  end,  whilst  he  stationed  himself  at  the 
other.  For  one  hour  messages  passed  between 
them.  When  the  committee  met,  the  chairman 
stated  his  new  experience  and  said,  *'I  am  now 
ready  to  give  my  emphatic  decision  in  favor  of 
the  appropriation,  for  I  have  both  sent  and  re- 
ceived messages  across  the  zvires/' 

There  is  a  wireless  between  heaven  and  earth, 
between  God  and  man,  over  which  we  may  send 
and  receive  messages.  It  is  prayer.  When,  from 
the  telephone  booth  or  your  office,  you  call  up 
your  home,  you  cannot  be  mistaken  as  you  re- 
ceive response ;  it  was  the  voice  of  father  or 
mother,  sister  or  brother  which  you  heard.  You 
are  in  no  doubt  as  to  the  person  who  replied.  So, 
when  you  enter  into  your  closet,  and  there  speak 
to  God  in  secret  and  about  things  which  you  have 
not  mentioned  to  anyone  and  which  no  one  else 
could  bring  about,  and  He  rewards  you  openly, 
you  know  that  you  were  speaking  with  your 
heavenly  Father.  History  is  full  of  the  records 
of  prayer  answered,  from  the  beginning  of  the 
world  until  now.  There  is  not  a  child  of  God 
but  has  infallible  proofs  that  his  heavenly  Father 
has  heard  and  answered. 

Sophistry  Exposed.  You  say  God  does  not 
always  answer.  But  He  does,  always.  A  crowd 
of  tourists  were  on  Mt.  Rainier,  above  the  line 
of  vegetation,  where  snow  and  ice  hold  uninter- 
rupted sway.    They  were  gathered  around  a  fire 


THE  HUMAN  AGENTS  51 

in  a  rude  shack  between  supper  and  retirement 
for  the  night.  At  the  center  stood  a  table,  and 
around  it  were  gathered  lawyers  and  doctors. 
They  were  speaking  about  religion,  about  prayer. 
One  said,  'These  foolish  Christians  believe  in 
prayer.  For  example,  when  Lincoln  was  shot, 
they  prayed  that  he  might  recover,  and  Lincoln 
died,  and  still  they  believe  in  prayer."  Said  an- 
other, "Yes,  when  Garfield  was  shot,  and  when 
he  hovered  between  life  and  death  for  w^eeks, 
they  gathered  in  their  churches  and  prayed  for 
Garfield's  recovery.  Garfield,  however,  died,  and 
still  they  believe  in  prayer."  Said  another,  "It 
was  the  same  with  McKinley." 

Whilst  'they  were  speaking,  a  fellow-tourist 
was  thinking,  and  he  said  to  his  wife,  'T  must 
speak  and  testify."  She  gently  remonstrated,  but 
he  arose  and  said,  "Gentlemen,  *no'  is  an  answer 
as  well  as  'yes.'  We  Christians  prayed  that  these 
precious  lives  should  be  prolonged,  and  rightly, 
from  our  limited  knowledge;  but  the  omniscient 
Father  said,  'It  is  better  that  they  depart  and  be 
with  Christ.'  Some  of  you  are  fathers.  Sup- 
pose you  are  shaving,  and  the  razor  blade,  glit- 
tering in  the  sun,  attracts  your  two-year-old 
boy,  and  he  asks  you  to  give  him  that  razor. 
Would  you  do  it?  Why  not?  Simply  because 
you,  as  a  father,  loved  your  son  and  knew  what 
was  best. 

"But  let  us  go  back  to  the  days  of  Lincoln, 


52       AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

that  man  of  prayer  and  sorrows.  When  Gen- 
eral Sickles  was  brought  to  the  hospital  at  Wash- 
ington, wounded  in  the  first  day's  battle  at  Get- 
tysburg, Lincoln  visited  him.  They  spoke  about 
the  issue.  Lincoln  assured  him  that  the  North 
would  win.  'But  how  do  you  know?'  *I  have 
prayed,  and  God  has  answered  me  that  we  would 
win.'  Lincoln,  a  servant  of  God,  called  to  the 
presidency  in  a  great  crisis,  was  to  bring  together 
a  divided  nation  and  cement  it  into  an  indissol- 
uble union.  We  prayed  because  we  thought  his 
life  was  necessary  to  the  work,  yet  God  knew 
that  Lincoln  could  do  a  thousand  times  more  for 
the  cause  by  his  death  than  by  his  life.  I  submit 
to  you  that  God's  way,  when  He  answered  *no,' 
was  best.  I  submit  that  it  was  over  Lincoln's 
grave  that  the  South  extended  her  hand  to  the 
North,  and  declared,  'We  will  live  together  as 
brethren.' 

"Garfield,  too,  was  a  servant  of  God.  You 
may  have  read  how  he  quelled  the  mob  in  the 
streets  of  New  York  by  quoting  God's  Word, 
and  how  on  another  occasion  he  stopped  the 
mouth  of  an  infidel.  When  the  two  senators  of 
New  York  insisted  that  they  had  the  right,  irre- 
spective of  the  qualifications  in  character  or  at- 
tainment, to  name  the  collector  of  the  Port  of 
New  York,  he  stood  for  the  principle  that  public 
office  is  a  public  trust,  and  must  be  so  managed. 
Guiteau   shot  him  under  the   excitement.     We 


THE  HUMAN  AGENTS  53 

prayed  that  the  precious  Hfe  be  spared,  but  God 
saw  it  otherwise.  We  now  know  that  had  Gar- 
field lived  a  hundred  years  he  could  not  have 
dealt  a  harder  blow  to  political  graft  and  cor- 
ruption than  he  did  by  his  death.  From  that 
day  to  now  the  honest  men  of  the  nation  have 
been  aroused,  and,  more  and  more,  graft  is  re- 
treating to  the  hell  whence  it  came.  God  knew 
it,  and  we  did  not.    We  know  it  now. 

"McKinley  was  shot  by  an  anarchist,  Czol- 
gosz.  Anarchy  was  fast  gaining  headway  in  these 
United  States  as  well  as  in  the  world.  From 
the  day  he,  w^ho  appealed,  for  mercy  for  his  as- 
sassin, died,  anarchy  has  been  losing  its  hold 
among  us.  Had  he  lived  to  the  age  of  Methuse- 
lah he  could  not  have  accomplished  by  life  what 
he  did  by  death.  McKinley's  death  has  made 
anarchy  and  lawlessness  odious. 

"It  is  appointed  unto  men  once  to  die.  The 
value  and  importance  of  a  life  is  not  measured 
by  length  of  days,  but  by  what  it  achieves.  Lin- 
coln, Garfield  and  McKinley,  all  believers  in  God, 
in  Christ  Jesus,  have  been  enshrined  in  the  mem- 
ory of  our  nation  and  of  the  world,  and  the  blood 
of  those  martyrs  are  the  seeds  which  are  sowing 
the  whole  world  for  a  better  harvest.  If  there 
were  no  death,  there  could  be  no  resurrection 
of  the  dead.  We  lament  that  these  bodies  must 
be  sown  in  weakness,  in  corruption,  in  mortality. 
But  it  is  absolutely  necessary,  in  order  that  they 


54       AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

may  be  raised  in  power,  in  incorruptibility,  in 
glory  and  immortality. 

"You  have  been  making  sport  of  the  founda- 
tion-principles on  which  our  world  rises  to  higher 
things.  There  is  no  progress  except  through 
sacrifice.  There  is  no  remission  of  sin  except 
through  the  shedding  of  innocent  blood.  And  to 
think  that  we  jeer,  when  the  great  God  offers  to 
us  that  unspeakable  gift  and  gives  His  Son  to 
die  for  us  on  Calvary's  cross  so  that  this  sin- 
cursed  world  might  be  lifted  to  higher  levels,  is 
not  to  our  credit."  He  waited  for  a  reply,  but 
there  was  none,  until  the  next  afternoon,  on  the 
departing  train,  the  mockers  apologized. 

Yes,  God  always  answers,  and  the  Christian,  if 
he  is  patient  and  abides  his  time,  will  learn  that 
it  was  a  loving  Father  who  answered,  whether 
He  answers  ''yes"  or  "no." 

Obedience,  God  is  anxious  that  we  try  and 
prove  Him  and  His  promises.  He  desires  that 
we  be  assured.  Hence  there  is  another  infallible 
test.  Jesus  says,  'Tf  any  man  willeth  to  do  His 
will,  he  shall  knozv  of  the  teaching  whether  it  be 
of  God." 

"The  proof  of  the  pudding  is  in  the  eating." 
The  test  of  the  prescription  is  in  the  taking. 
The  truth  of  the  theory  is  found  in  its  reduction 
to  practice.  The  value  of  the  promise  is  tested 
by  compliance  with  its  condition.  The  doing  of 
Gocf  s  will  demonstrates  that  godliness  is  profit- 


THE  HUMAN  AGENTS  55 

able  unto  all  things,  and  has  what  nothing  else 
has,  namely,  the  promise  of  the  best  in  two 
worlds — the  life  that  now  is  and  that  which  is 
to  come.  David  had  varied  experiences,  but  he 
never  saw  the  righteous  forsaken.  No  man  has 
ever  lived  in  Christ,  and  in  harmony  with  the 
word  of  life,  who  has  not  found  that  God  is  and 
is  a  rezvarder  of  them  who  diligently  seek  Him. 

Complete  Surrender.  We  must,  however,  obey 
fully.  No  half  way  obedience  will  answer. 
There  can  be  no  mental  reservation.  There  dare 
be  no  expediency.  Many  serve  God  in  so  far  as 
it  is  convenient  and  does  not  interfere  with  their 
selfish  desire,  and  then  are  disappointed.  Fool- 
ish creatures — they  attempt  to  palm  off  their  hy- 
pocrisy for  true  service.  The  flitting  butterfly 
will  serve  in  so  far  as  it  will  not  interfere  with 
her  pleasures;  the  miser  in  so  far  as  it  will  not 
interfere  with  his  greed;  the  sensualist  in  so  far 
as  it  w411  not  interfere  with  his  base  gratification ; 
and  others  in  so  far  as  it  will  not  interfere  with 
this  or  that  darling  sin;  but  it  will  not  answer. 
It  is  all  or  none.  We  may  impose  upon  ourselves 
by  such  duplicity,  but  surely  you  would  not  try 
it  upon  an  omniscient  and  righteous  God.  Such 
trifling  is  an  abomination  to  Him.  From  such 
He  hides,  to  such  He  will  not  appear.  They  can 
have  no  fellowship  with  Him.  He  receiveth  sin- 
ners, not  that  they  may  continue,  but  forsake, 
sin. 

On   Mount   Moriah,   in   Jerusalem,   stood  the 


56       AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

temple  in  whose  Holy  of  Holies  was  the  Sheki- 
nah,  the  place  where  God  met  and  spoke  with  His 
people.  In  order  to  reach  that  holy  and  blessed 
spot,  the  worshiper  must  enter  the  sacred  en- 
closure by  its  only  gate  and  offer  up  his  holo- 
caust at  the  altar  of  burnt-offering.  It  had  to  be 
an  offering  of  the  whole  animal,  typical  of  the 
full  surrender  of  the  worshiper,  of  himself  entire 
in  body,  soul  and  spirit.  No  part  could  be  re- 
served. The  offering  must  be  full  and  complete. 
Only  then  could  he  wash  at  the  brazen  laver, 
enter  the  holy  place,  and  then  the  most  holy, 
meet  his  God  and  commune  with  Him.  Then, 
and  then  only,  was  the  fellowship  and  union 
perfected. 

The  Result.  These  give  the  Christian  such 
a  knowledge  of  God,  and  of  His  work  and  will, 
as  to  constitute  him  a  witness.  These  give  him 
a  certainty  and  assurance  which  no  false  science 
and  no  plausible  philosophy  can  shake;  and  a 
courage  which  no  fire  or  sword  can  quench. 
These  give  him  an  insight  into  the  eternal  truth, 
revealed  and  incarnate,  which  will  enable  him  to 
turn  transgressors  from  the  evil  of  their  ways 
and  convert  sinners  to  Christ.  These  will  make 
of  him  a  holy  man,  born  of  the  Spirit,  walking 
in  newness  of  life,  and  a  co-witness  with  the 
Holy  Spirit.  This  human  agency  thus  links  up 
with  the  divine  agency  and  brings  to  earth  the 
''power  from  on  high"  for  the  salvation  of  the 
world. 


CHAPTER  III 

Home  Missions  Fundamental  to  World 
Evangelization 

You  can  thoroughly  save  the  world  only  from  a  thor- 
oughly saved  home  Church.  You  can  have  a  thoroughly 
saved  home  Church  only  where  there  is  the  world-wide 
vision. — George  Eliot. 

IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  SCRIPTURES 

A  THOROUGHLY  savcd  Church  must  save  the 
nations  before  it  can  save  the  world,  and,  to 
save  the  nations,  you  must  have  a  saved  nation. 
If,  therefore,  we  substitute  the  word  nation  for 
the  Church,  we  have  a  more  accurate  statement, 
which  would  read  thus:  You  can  thoroughly 
save  the  world  only  from  a  thoroughly  saved 
nation.  You  can  have  a  thoroughly  saved  nation 
only  where  there  is  a  world-wide  vision. 

*'But  ye  shall  receive  power  when  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  come  upon  you,  and  ye  shall  be  my  wit- 
nesses both  in  Jerusalem  and  in  all  Judea,  and 
ill  Samaria,  and  unto  the  uttermost  parts  of  the 
earth."     (Acts  i:8.) 

This  is  a  Home  Mission  text.  There  is  no 
mention  here  of  nations  as  in  the  Great  Com- 
mission. It  begins  with  the  Jews  in  Jerusalem, 
passes  on  to  the  Jews  in  Judea  and  Samaria,  and 
57 


58       AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

continues  witnessing  to  the  Jews  unto  the  utter- 
most parts  of  the  earth.  The  words  are  a  part 
of  the  Saviour's  last  conversation  with  His  dis- 
ciples. The  subject  is  Israel,  and  not  the  Gen- 
tiles; the  nation,  and  not  the  nations.  It  is  the 
question  of  the  restoration  of  the  kingdom  to 
the  chosen  nation,  partly  located  in  Palestine  and 
partly  scattered  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  The 
times  and  seasons  would  remain  hidden ;  but 
Pentecost  would  endow  them  with  power  from 
on  high,  and  by  faithfully  witnessing  in  Jeru- 
salem, Judea,  Samaria,  and  to  the  uttermost  parts 
of  the  earth,  they  would  convert  the  nation  which 
would  convert  the  nations,  and  the  kingdom 
would  be  restored.  It  is  the  conversion  of  the 
home  nation  in  order  to  the  conversion  of  the 
nations.  If  the  first  fails,  the  second  cannot  be 
accomplished. 

The  Returned  Laymen.  When  the  laymen, 
sent  out  by  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Church 
to  inspect  the  fields  in  heathen  lands  and  report 
on  their  condition  and  needs,  returned,  after  a 
careful  investigation,  they  declared  that  the  cry- 
ing need  of  the  foreign  work  was  the  enlarge- 
ment of  the  home  base.  They  knew,  as  business 
men,  that  if  they  would  increase  their  export  and 
enlarge  their  business  in  foreign  lands,  they  must 
enlarge  and  increase  the  output  of  the  home 
plant.  The  items  dififer,  but  the  principle  is  the 
same.    The  intimate  relation  between  Home  and 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  SCRIPTURES  59 

Foreign  Missions  was  never  so  fully  understood 
as  at  the  present,  when  inter-communication  be- 
tween Christian  and  non-Christian  nations  is  so 
rapid  and  intimate,  the  character  of  the  one  in- 
fluencing the  character  of  the  other.  The  funda- 
mental importance  of  Home  Mission  work — its 
faithful  and  aggressive  prosecution  in  the  home- 
land, so  that  the  conditions  of  civilization,  of  its 
towns  and  cities,  the  life  of  its  people  and  the 
acts  of  its  government  shall  be  such  as  to  com- 
mend the  religion  of  our  Saviour  to  our  non- 
Christian  neighbors — has  never  been  so  fully  ap- 
preciated as  now.  Only  in  proportion  as  the 
homelands  are  christianized,  only  in  that  propor- 
tion will  we  have  the  men  and  means,  and  also 
the  conditions,  for  the  christianization  of  the 
foreign  lands. 

The  quotation  from  Elliott  is  but  a  comment 
on  the  words  of  the  Saviour.  There  must  be  a 
thoroughly  converted  home  Church,  yea,  a 
Church  so  thoroughly  converted  and  aggressive 
as  to  convert  the  nation,  before  Christendom  can 
exert  its  full  strength  for  the  conversion  of  the 
nations.  This  is  enforced  by  the  example  and 
teaching  of  Christ  and  His  apostles,  and  is  writ- 
ten large  in  the  history  of  the  Church. 

The  Factors.  When  we  speak  of  Home  Mis- 
sions as  fundamental  to  all  other  mission 
work,  we  include  all  those  activities,  evangelistic, 
educational,   eleemosynary,   social   and   national, 


60       AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

employed  to  win  and  hold  men  for  Christ,  and 
declare  that  only  in  proportion  to  the  work  al- 
ready accomplished  in  the  homeland  can  we  exert 
power  in  the  lands  which  are  foreign. 

The  mission  work  is  one,  but  it  is  one  of  many 
parts.  They  are  not  all  equally  important.  Some 
are  fundamental  and  others  are  relative.  We 
have  one  body  and  many  members,  but  all  mem- 
bers, equally  necessary  to  the  body  as  a  whole, 
are  not  vital.  The  legs,  the  arms,  the  eyes  and 
ears  are  important;  but  the  heart,  the  lungs  and 
the  liver  are  vital.  The  one  commission  outlines 
the  work  which  the  Church,  the  body  of  Christ, 
is  to  perform  among  all  nations;  the  other  com- 
mands beginnings  in  Jerusalem,  Judea  and 
Samaria  as  fundamental  to  the  entire  mission 
work.  Jerusalem  work  among  the  Jews  is  funda- 
mental to  the  Judean,  that  to  the  Samaritan  and 
that  to  the  Jews  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the 
earth,  and  all  to  the  world-wide  mission  among 
the  nations.  Weakness  or  failure  in  the  first 
will  show  in  the  next  and  in  all  that  is  subse- 
quent. The  people  unreached  in  Jerusalem  will 
be  lost  to  the  work  which  is  to  be  undertaken  in 
Judea,  weaken  the  impact  upon  Samaria  and 
upon  every  land  entered,  even  unto  the  utter- 
most parts  of  the  earth.  The  unreached  and  the 
unconverted  are  not  only  not  an  asset,  but  they 
are  a  liability.  They  are  not  only  no  help,  but  a 
positive  hindrance.     They  will  not  only  not  go 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  SCRIPTURES  61 

up  with  US  to  fight  the  enemy,  but,  like  the 
Amalekites  and  PhiHstines,  they  will  be  thorns 
in  our  sides. 

According  to  the  preparation  of  the  home  field 
and  the  extent  to  which  it  has  been  seeded  down 
will  be  the  harvest  we  can  gather  for  our  future 
sowing.  We  are  God's  husbandry,  and  the  seed 
with  which  an  ever  larger  area  of  the  world's 
field  is  to  be  made  fruitful.  The  degree  in  which 
we  care  for  the  lands  occupied  measures  the 
speed  with  which  we  can  enter  those  unoccupied. 
Upon  the  size  of  our  home  base  will  depend  the 
extent  of  our  foreign  work.  Our  effectiveness 
at  home  forecasts  our  efficiency  abroad.  Upon 
the  character  and  vitality  of  the  home  Church 
depends  the  foreign  Church,  and  not  vice  versa. 
The  child  may  be,  in  a  figure  of  speech,  the  father 
of  the  man,  but  never  the  father  of  its  father. 
It  is  the  begetter  which  determines  the  character 
of  the  begotten.  In  the  kingdom  of  grace,  as  in 
that  of  nature,  like  begets  like,  and  everything  is 
after  its  kind. 

THE  MINISTRY  OF  JESUS,  THE  FIRST   HOME 
MISSIONARY 

You  have  read  the  startling  sentence,  "God  had 
but  one  Son,  and  He  was  a  Missionary !"  More 
accurately  stated,  "He  was  a  Home  Missionary." 
"He  came  to  His  own."  He  did  not  come  to  a 
foreign  country  or  race.    According  to  the  flesh, 


62       AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

He  Sprang  from  the  race  to  whom  He  minis- 
tered, and  from  the  land  to  which  He  confined 
His  ministry.  He  was  born  in  Bethlehem  of 
Judea,  and  spent  all  His  earthly  ministry  among 
the  children  of  Abraham.  He  never  wrought  a 
miracle  or  performed  an  act  of  His  Messiahship 
beyond  the  boundaries  of  the  land  which  was 
given  to  the  Jews  by  the  covenant  deed  of  God. 
This  was  no  mere  coincidence,  but  the  necessary 
and  preliminary  step  for  the  accomplishment  of 
His  world-wide  mission.  He,  by  word  and  ex- 
ample, would  teach  the  Church  the  necessity  of 
caring  for  those  who  were  near,  in  order  to  more 
easily  reach  those  afar,  thus  emphasizing  the 
fundamental  importance  of  the  home  work  to  the 
foreign. 

The  Twelve.  The  same  principle  is  illus- 
trated in  His  sending  forth  of  the  twelve  and 
giving  them  special  power.  He  charged  them, 
saying,  '*Go  not  into  the  way  of  the  Gentiles, 
and  enter  not  into  any  city  of  the  Samaritans, 
but  go  rather  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of 
Israel."  (Matt.  10:5,  6.)  The  time  had  not 
come  for  work  among  the  Samaritans.  It  was 
after  Christ's  ascension  that  Philip  converted  the 
city  of  Samaria  and  Peter  and  John  preached 
the  Gospel  to  their  villages.  Surely  it  was  His 
purpose  to  have  the  Gospel  preached  among  the 
Samaritans  and  the  Gentiles.  This  is  evidenced 
by  His  character  as  the  world's  Saviour  and  by 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  SCRIPTURES  63 

His  subsequent  injunctions.  But  attention  must 
tirst  be  given  to  the  more  accessible,  to  those 
nearer  to  the  home  base.  In  the  first  verse  of 
the  eleventh  chapter  of  Matthew  we  learn  that 
He  Himself  begins  a  missionary  tour  to  teach 
and  preach  in  the  cities  of  Israel. 

The  Seventy.  His  commission  to  the  seventy 
(Luke  lo:  i)  is  that  they  go  "before  His  face 
into  every  city  and  place,  whither  He  Himself 
is  about  to  come."  Here  again  the  ministry  is 
confined  to  the  homeland. 

Other  Instances.  In  His  conversation  with 
the  Samaritan  woman,  He  foreshadows  the  uni- 
versality of  His  mission  and  yet  claims  special 
prerogatives  for  the  Jews.  In  His  dealing  with 
the  Syro-Phoenician  woman  and  the  healing  of 
her  daughter,  He  claims  that  He  is  "not  sent  but 
to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel."  He 
assigns  a  prominent  place  to  the  children  of  the 
covenant.  The  bread  which  belonged  to  them 
could  not  be  claimed  or  given  to  others.  Her 
faith  was  honored,  because  she  honored  God's 
appointment  and  meekly  sought  the  crumbs 
w^hich  fell  from  the  Master's  table.  The  care  of 
the  household  of  faith  was  first  and  foremost, 
for  they  must  become  the  human  instrumentali- 
ties to  bring  in  the  others  who  are  not  of  the 
fold.  Twice  do  w^e  have  record  of  the  Saviour 
weeping:  once  at  Lazarus's  grave,  when  He 
looked  upon  death,  the  ravages  of  sin,  and  over- 


64       AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

came  it;  and  when  He  looked  upon  the  city  of 
God  and  the  people  of  God,  upon  whom  the  hopes 
of  the  world  were  centered,  on  whose  fidelity 
depended  the  coming  of  the  kingdom,  and  know- 
ing that  Israel  would  disappoint  His  just  expec- 
tation, the  thought  of  the  loss  to  the  world  by  the 
apostasy  of  the  chosen  people,  overwhelmed 
Him,  and  Jesus  wept. 

THE    saviour's    SPECIAL    COMMISSION 

It  had  reference  only  to  the  Jews  scattered 
all  over  the  world.  We  shall  miss  an  important 
element  if  we  fail  to  see  in  it  a  special  commis- 
sion to  Israel.  We  reach  a  one-sided  view  if  we 
attempt  to  construct  a  theory  of  missions  from 
one  passage.  We  must  study  the  Scriptures  and 
see  the  relation  of  all  its  parts.  When  the  utter- 
most parts  of  the  earth  are  mentiond,  the  further- 
est  parts  to  be  reached,  Jerusalem,  Judea  and 
Samaria  come  first  in  the  enumeration;  and  it  is 
distinctly  stated  that  the  work  was  to  find  its 
beginning,  and  hence  its  foundation,  in  Jeru- 
salem. Israel  was  included  in  the  mission  efforts 
beyond  Palestine,  even  those  which  reached  the 
uttermost  parts  of  the  earth.  Galilee,  included, 
is  not  mentioned,  in  which  a  large  portion  of  the 
Saviour's  ministry  had  been  spent  and  where  the 
apostles  had  been  active,  because  it  is  included 
in  the  parts  beyond  Judea  and  Samaria.  From 
Galilee  a  large  company  followed  Him  to  Jeru- 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  SCRIPTURES  65 

salem,  and  there,  in  one  of  His  appearances  after 
His  resurrection,  He  was  seen  by  *'over  five  hun- 
dred brethren  at  once."  That  the  work  prospered 
in  that  and  all  the  territory  of  the  Jews  is  evi- 
denced by  Acts  9:31,  "So  the  Church  through- 
out all  Judea,  Galilee,  and  Samaria  had  peace,  be- 
ing edified ;  and,  walking  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord 
and  in  the  comfort  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  zvas  multi- 
plied." 

JERUSALEM   STRATEGIC 

This  order  of  procedure  was  not  dictated  by 
Jewish  narrowness,  but  by  Christlike  wisdom. 
The  beginning  was  to  be  made  in  Jerusalem,  and 
there  the  foundation  for  world-wide  evangeliza- 
tion laid.  Antioch,  Alexandria  and  Rome  were 
more  prominent  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  but 
Jerusalem  was  the  religious  center  from  which, 
through  the  converted  Jews,  the  ends  of  the  earth 
could  be  reached.  On  the  day  of  Pentecost  the 
record  is  that  there  ''were  dwelling  in  Jerusalem 
Jews,  devout  men  out  of  every  nation  under 
heaven."  Jerusalem  was  the  cosmopolitan  city 
pre-eminently.  It  was  the  religious  metropolis 
of  the  world,  its  radiating  center.  Hither  they 
came  three  times  a  year  from  all  parts  of  the 
world,  as  commanded  by  the  Lord,  to  celebrate 
the  events  which  were  the  foundation  of  their 
temporal  and  eternal  welfare,  and  from  liere 
they  would  return  to  the  lands  of  their  sojourn. 
What  a  center  from  which  to  send  the  tidings  of 


66       AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

the  fulfillment  of  the  prophecies,  the  proofs  of 
the  Messiah's  advent  and  atonement  to  the  utter- 
most parts  of  the  earth!  From  the  hasty 
enumeration  of  the  various  nationalities,  in  whose 
languages  the  inspired  tongues  declared  the  won- 
derful works  of  God,  we  find  every  part  of  the 
compass  represented.  From  Cappadocia,  Pontus, 
Asia  and  Phrygia,  people  had  come  from  the 
north;  from  the  south  they  had  come  from 
Arabia  and  Egypt;  from  the  east  the  Parthians, 
Medes,  Elamites,  Mesopotamians  were  present; 
and  from  the  west  the  Lybians  about  Cyrene, 
the  Cretes  and  Romans  had  sent  their  representa- 
tives. The  three  known  continents,  Asia,  Africa 
and  Europe,  the  inhabited  world  was  represented. 
With  mighty  strides  the  work  went  forward  in 
the  Holy  City.  Soon  the  three  thousand  swelled 
to  five  thousand  men,  and  in  quick  succession 
multitudes  and  a  large  company  of  priests  were 
added.  Grandly  the  work  went  forward  from 
Jerusalem  throughout  Palestine,  until  the  disci- 
ples fled  from  persecution  and  left  the  apostles 
unaided  in  the  evangelization  of  the  city.  But 
whilst  in  their  terror  they  left  the  citadel,  they 
were  still  mindful  of  the  special  commission, 
''scattered  abroad  throughout  the  regions  of 
Judea  and  Samaria."  (Acts  8:i.)  "Went 
about  preaching  the  Word."  (Acts  8:8.)  But 
that  preaching  was  still  confined  to  Israel,  for 
in  the  eleventh  chapter  and  nineteenth  verse  we 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  SCRIPTURES  67 

read,  "They  therefore. that  were  scattered  abroad 
upon  the  tribulation  about  Stephen  traveled  in 
Phoenicia  and  Cypress  and  Antioch  speaking  the 
Word  to  none  save  Jews  only." 

Paul's  example 
A  careful  study  of  the  separation  of  Paul  for 
his  life  work  will  reveal  that  he  was  not  merely 
the  special  apostle  to  the  Gentiles,  but  through  and 
by  means  of  the  Jews  he  was  to  reach  the  Gen- 
tiles and  preach  the  Gospel  to  all  nations  in  that 
age.  The  Lord  said  to  Ananias,  *'He  is  a  chosen 
vessel  unto  me,  to  bear  my  name  before  the  Gen- 
tiles, the  kings  and  the  children  of  Israel."    (Acts 

9:15-) 

''And  as  they  ministered  before  the  Lord  and 
fasted,  the  Holy  Ghost  said.  Separate  me  Barna- 
bas and  Saul  for  the  work  whereunto  I  have 
called  them.  Then,  when  they  had  fasted  and 
prayed  and  laid  their  hands  on  them,  they  sent 
them  away."  (Acts  13:2,  3.)  Now  let  us  see 
what  the  subsequent  verses  say  about  the  mission 
of  Paul,  and  note  carefully  to  whom  the  Holy 
Spirit  had  sent  him  and  Barnabas.  ''So  they, 
being  sent  forth  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  went  forth 
to  Seleucia,  and  from  thence  they  sailed  to 
Cyprus.  And  when  they  were  at  Salamis,  they 
proclaimed  the  word  of  God  in  the  synagogues 
of  the  Jews."  And  from  that  day  to  the  end  of 
his  life,  it  was  always  "to  the  Jew  first"  and 


68       AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

then  to  the  Gentiles.  Wisely  and  advisedly  he 
always,  at  every  opportunity,  went  to  the  Jews 
first.  The  children  of  the  ten  tribes,  which  now 
numbered  several  millions,  had  never  returned. 
They  had  been  scattered  all  over  the  world.  The 
numerous  descendants  of  the  vast  majority  of 
those  who  had  been  carried  to  Babylon  were  the 
children  of  the  dispersion.  In  Alexandria  almost 
half  of  the  inhabitants  were  wealthy  and  power- 
ful Jews.  In  Greece  and  Asia  Minor  they  were 
everywhere.  In  Rome  they  occupied  the  right 
bank  of  the  Tiber.  They  were  the  cosmopolitans 
of  their  age,  but  still  regarded  Jerusalem  as  their 
headquarters,  the  Sanhedrin  as  their  highest 
court,  the  temple  as  the  seat  of  their  worship. 
Thither  they  sent  yearly  gifts  of  money,  and  to 
it  they  repaired  at  the  great  festivals.  The  Jews 
in  Paul's  day  were  scattered  from  Palestine  to 
India  and  China.  Their  zeal  had  translated  the 
Old  Testament  into  Greek,  and  these  Scriptures 
were  widely  read.  James  addressed  his  epistles 
"to  the  twelve  tribes  who  are  of  the  dispersion." 
James,  the  brother  of  the  Lord,  declares  that 
*'Moses  from  generations  of  old  hath  in  every 
city  them  that  preach  him/'  being  read  in  the 
synagogues  every  Sabbath."  (Acts  15:21.) 
Both  sacred  and  secular  history  confirms  this. 
"The  court  of  the  Gentiles"  was  fenced  oil  in 
order  that  their  adherents,  the  proselytes  at  the 
gate,  and  their  converts,  the  proselytes  of  right- 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  SCRIPTURES  69 

eousness,  whom  their  zeal  had  gathered  from  the 
Gentiles,  might  have  part  in  the  temple  worship. 
Their  zeal  in  making  converts  is  attested  by  the 
Saviour. 

When  Paul  and  Barnabas  start  on  their  mis- 
sionary journey  they  sail  to  Cyprus,  and  at 
Salamis  they  preach  the  Word  of  God  '*in  the 
synagogues  of  the  Jews."  At  Paphos  he  ad- 
dresses a  Jew.  At  Antioch  of  Pisidia  they  went 
into  the  synagogue  and  on  two  Sabbaths  in  suc- 
cession they  preached  to  them  the  words  of  life. 
At  Iconium  they  spoke  in  the  synagogue  to  both 
Jews  and  Greeks,  i.  e.,  Hellenistic  Jews.  Cast 
out  of  one  of  the  synagogues,  they  enter  another. 
At  Thessalonica  ''they  find  a  synagogue  of  the 
Jews,  and  Paul,  as  his  custom  was,  went  in  unto 
them,  and  for  three  Sabbaths  reasoned  with  them 
from  the  Scriptures."  At  Corinth,  Paul  says  to 
the  Jews  (Acts  i8:  6),  "Your  blood  be  upon  your 
own  heads;  I  am  clean;  from  henceforth  I  will 
go  unto  the  Gentiles."  But  he  repented  of  the 
rash  threat.  When  he  reached  the  next  city, 
Ephesus,  "he  himself  entered  into  the  synagogue 
and  reasoned  with  the  Jews."  (Acts  i8:  19.) 
They  might  provoke  him  and  cause  him  even  to 
speak  inadvisedly,  but  he  knew  the  mind  of  the 
Saviour,  and  in  obedience  to  the  Lord  he  always 
preached  to  the  "Jew  first,  and  also  to  the  Greek" 
(Rom.  i:  16),  because  the  divine  mission  could 
all  the  more  speedily  be  accomplished  through  the 


70       AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

Jew.  It  was  because  those  early  disciples  were 
cosmopolitan  Jews  that  they  preached  the  Gospel 
as  a  witness  among  the  nations  in  that  generation. 
To  the  Romans  he  writes,  "Their  sound  went 
unto  all  the  earth  and  their  words  into  the  ends 
of  the  world"  (the  inhabited  earth).  (Rom.  lo: 
19.)  Many  will  dispute  this  truth  or  attempt  to 
explain  it  away.  Yet  the  more  we  learn  con- 
cerning the  zeal  and  devotion  of  the  apostles 
and  their  co-laborers  and  the  territory  they  cov- 
ered in  their  missionary  work,  the  more  are  we 
convinced  that  the  apostolic  age  had  not  ended, 
that  that  generation  had  not  passed  away  before 
the  Gospel  was  preached  unto  the  uttermost  parts 
of  the  earh,  as  a  witness,  Paul,  the  special  mes- 
senger to  Jew  and  Gentile,  writes  to  the  Colos- 
sians,  ''Grounded  and  steadfast,  and  not  moved 
away  from  the  hope  of  the  Gospel  which  ye 
heard,  which  was  preached  in  all  creation  under 
heaven;  whereof  I,  Paul,  was  made  a  minister." 
(Col.  1:23.) 

THE  CITADEL  LOST 

The  persecution  against  the  Church  in  Jeru- 
salem and  the  scattering  of  the  disciples,  leaving 
the  apostles  weak-handed  in  the  city,  is  usually 
considered  a  blessing  in  disguise.  It  was  the 
work  of  the  devil.  The  disciples  fled  and  ceased 
to  bear  witness  in  the  Holy  City.  Peter  at  last 
divided  his  activity  with  other  towns  and  cities. 
The  human  agency  no  longer  carried  the  divine 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  SCRIPTURES  71 

power,  poured  forth  in  such  a  marvelous  way 
and  with  signs  so  convincing  to  the  Jew.  Be- 
Hevers  decreased.  The  citadel  fell.  The  w^ork 
throughout  Judea,  Samaria  and  Galilee  and  to 
the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth,  which  had  mul- 
tiplied so  rapidly  and  was  gaining  strength  day 
by  day,  lost  its  directing  center.  Hence,  instead 
of  evangelizing  the  nations,  instead  of  abiding 
monuments  of  increasing  victory,  w^e  find  epi- 
taphs of  a  brilliant  but  brief  struggle.  That 
glorious  age  of  a  witnessing,  but  not  enduring. 
Church,  closes  in  catastrophe.  Instead  of  com- 
ing a  second  time  unto  salvation,  there  was  a 
coming  to  judgment.  Jerusalem  was  destroyed. 
Israel  lost  its  leadership  among  the  nations. 
God,  who  delights  in  mercy,  was  constrained  to 
come  in  judgment.  His  gracious  will  thwarted 
by  the  sin  of  man.  His  righteous  will  went  into 
effect,  and  that  age  closed  w^ith  a  collapse  of  the 
work  on  the  foreign  field  because  the  work  in 
the  home  field  w^as  no  longer  prosecuted  with 
that  initial  vigor  and  devotion.  With  the  sur- 
render of  Jerusalem,  the  center  and  capital  of 
world  evangelization,  the  sound,  which  had  gone 
out  to  the  ends  of  the  inhabited  earth,  died  away. 
It  was  no  narrow  prejudice  which  in  the  world- 
embracing  commission  gave  special  direction  con- 
cerning Jerusalem,  Judea  and  Samaria,  and  the 
Jews  throughout  the  rest  of  the  world.  It  was 
divine  missionary  wisdom.    A  Jewish  missionary 


72        AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

was  asked  what,  in  his  judgment,  would  do  most 
to  convert  the  world  to  Christ,  and  said,  **Con- 
vert  the  Jew  and  you  will  have  the  men  and  the 

money." 

PAULAS    PRECEPT 

Paul  surely  will  not  be  accused  of  narrowness 
and  of  a  lack  of  insight  into  the  close  connection 
and  inter-relation  of  the  various  parts  of  the 
mission  propaganda  to  each  other,  such  as  Peter 
at  first  displayed,  when  he  affirms  the  primary 
importance  of  the  work  among  those  who  have 
the  Gospel,  in  order  that  it  may  be  effectively 
carried  to  those  who  have  it  not.  Whilst  we  con- 
cede inspiration  equally  to  all,  Paul  was  pre- 
eminent in  his  understanding  of  the  truth,  and 
especially  of  the  missionary  idea.  He  had  the 
deepest  insight  into  the  mission  principle,  and  the 
greatest  success  in  its  propagation.  Though 
called  also  as  the  apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  his 
epistles  are  full  of  the  supreme  importance  of 
winning  Israel  in  that  age  and  of  his  example 
in  seeking  them  out  first  and  foremost  at  every 
opportunity,  in  spite  of  the  harsh  treatment  ex- 
perienced again  and  again  at  their  hands.  So 
clearly  does  he  see  the  necessity  of  Israel's  con- 
version in  order  to  world  evangelization,  that  his 
heart's  desire  and  prayer  to  God  was  that  Israel 
might  be  saved.  Yea,  so  fully  was  he  persuaded 
of  this  thai:  he  was  willing  to  be  numbered  among 
the    accursed,    if   thereby    Israel — and,   through 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  SCRIPTURES  73 

Israel,  the  world — might  be  saved.  He  is  par- 
ticular to  strengthen  the  work  at  Jerusalem  by 
gathering  gifts  for  the  poor  from  the  wealthier 
members  of  the  congregations  he  had  established. 
It  almost  seems  as  if  he  noted  the  fatal  mistake 
the  disciples  made  in  fleeing  from,  instead  of 
rallying  to,  the  conversion  of  Jerusalem,  when 
persecution  arose,  and  as  if  he  was  endeavor- 
ing to  teach  his  fellow-apostles  the  wisdom  of 
holding  and  strengthening  the  center  of  the  work 
at  all  hazards  as  he  pens  these  words:  "As  we 
therefore  have  opportunity,  let  us  do  good  unto 
all  men,  especially  to  them  of  the  household  of 
faith."  (Gal.  6:  lo.)  Like  his  Master,  he  speaks 
of  a  general  obligation  **to  all  men"  and  a  special 
one  "to  them  of  the  household  of  faith."  Those 
of  the  household  of  faith  are  not  necessarily  be- 
lievers. It  is  not  only  a  faith,  but  a  blood  relation- 
ship also,  which  is  indicated  by  the  household. 
The  world-embracing  Paul  has  a  deep  longing  in 
his  heart,  and  from  it  goes  up  fervent  prayer  to 
God  for  Israel.  This  was  not  because  he  felt  little 
interest  in  the  other  work  to  which  he  was  also 
assigned — the  evangelization  of  the  Gentile  na- 
tions. He  realized  that  the  whole  work  could 
not  be  accomplished  if  the  mission  to  the  house- 
hold of  faith  failed.  He  knew  that  the  larger 
task  cannot  succeed  until  the  smaller  is  per- 
formed. There  must  be  a  saved  home  Church 
and  a  saved  nation  before  we  can  have  a  saved 
foreign  Church  and  a  saved  world. 


CHAPTER  IV 

Home  Missions  Fundamental  to  World 
Evangelization 

What  the  world  has  been  waiting  for  through  the 
centuries  is  a  sample  Christian  nation.  America  has 
the  best  chance  of  being  that  sample.  Consequently 
every  movement  which  expresses  Christian  ideals  in 
American  life  makes  easier  the  task  of  the  missionary 
abroad.  On  the  other  hand,  any  custom  that  is  unjust 
makes  more  difficult  the  foreign  worker's  task. — Edward 
Laird  Mills. 

THE   TESTIMONY   OF   CHURCH    HISTORY 

History  is  both  a  commentary  on  the  revela- 
tion of  God  and  a  confirmation  of  the  principles 
cf  the  Bible.  Certainly  the  omniscient  God  fore- 
saw that  the  human  agency  would  fail  Him  in 
Jerusalem  and  become  weak  throughout  Pales- 
tine, and  so  He  permitted  the  opening  of  a  new 
center  at  Antioch.  From  this  place  the  mission- 
aries spread  the  pure  Gospel  throughout  Syria, 
Arabia,  Asia  Minor,  Greece,  Rome,  and,  as  the 
Scriptures  teach  and  history  more  and  more  cor- 
roborates, to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  Soon  Car- 
thage became  a  center  and  North  Africa  shone 
as  a  bright  beacon  to  the  dark  continent.  Antioch 
once  numbered  more  than  100,000  Christians, 
and  the  cities  of  Asia  Minor  and  Greece,  and 
74 


THE  TESTIMONY  OF  CHURCH  HISTORY        75 

Alexandria  in  Egypt,  had  strong  Churches. 
Constantinople,  the  capital  of  the  eastern  empire, 
had  become  a  Christian  city. 

But  the  Christian  Church  departed  from  its 
apostolic  purity  in  doctrine  and  life.  The  home 
Church  of  those  lands  had  not  sufficient  vitality 
to  leaven  the  heathenism  by  which  it  was  sur- 
rounded. Mariolatry  and  the  worship  of  the 
saints  displaced  the  worship  of  the  true  God,  and 
empty  forms  and  ceremonies  crowded  out  the 
pleaching  of  the  living  Word,  and  sapped  the 
life  of  the  Church.  The  light  became  darkness, 
and  the  salt  lost  its  savor.  Palestine,  Syria,  Asia 
Minor,  Egypt,  North  Africa,  westward  to  the 
Straits  of  Gibraltar,  were  lost  to  Christendom 
in  the  seventh  and  eighth  centuries,  not  because 
they  had  neglected  the  foreign  field,  but  because 
they  became  corrupt  in  the  homelands.  Con- 
stantinople fell  in  1453,  and  one  hundred  years 
afterward  Servia,  Bosnia,  Herzegovina,  Greece, 
the  Peleponesus,  Roumania,  Wallachia  and  Mol- 
davia were  incorporated  into  the  Moslem  empire. 
The  Koran  displaced  the  Bible,  even  in  places 
where  Christianity  had  won  some  of  its  most 
signal  triumphs.  By  the  unfaithfulness  of  the 
home  Church,  unfaithful  to  the  homeland,  Mo- 
hammedanism grew  up  and  became  the  menace 
of  Europe,  and  for  centuries  the  impenetrable 
wall  to  the  advance  of  Christianity.  Dr.  Barnes, 
in  "Two  Thousand  Years  of   Missions   Before 


76       AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

Carey,"  page  84,  says :  "If  Origen  had  devoted 
his  magnificent  powers  to  evangehzation,  Chris- 
tianity might  have  been  so  placed  in  Arabia  as  to 
supplant  completely  its  gross  idolatry  and  to 
leave  no  need  of  the  monotheistic  reformation 
with  which  Mohammed  began  there,  and  no  start 
for  the  career  by  which  he  secured  the  blotting 
out  of  half  the  map  of  Christendom.  Instead  of 
being  the  false  prophet,  he  might  have  become 
our  Arabian  Luther.  Oriental  Christianity 
needed  such  a  one  in  his  day  as  much  as  occi- 
dental Christianity  needed  him  one  thousand 
years  later.  There  is  no  way  of  knowing  how 
much  of  the  reformation  in  religion  which  Mo- 
hammed did  accomplish  was  due  to  Sergius 
Bohare,  of  Bostra.  This  degenerate  Nestorian 
became  an  intimate  associate  of  the  prophet  and 
communicated  to  him  his  own  poor  apocryphal 
knowledge  of  Christ."  Had  the  Church  been 
pure  in  life  and  doctrine  in  the  homeland,  Mo- 
hammed would  have  found  the  truth  he  was 
earnestly  seeking  in  the  earlier  period  of  his 
search.  A  corrupt  Church  is  no  match  for  the 
zeal  and  devotion  of  a  fanatic.  God  spews  it  out 
of  His  mouth. 

She,  like  the  Pharisees,  did  not  lack  missionary 
enterprise  abroad,  but  her  chief  failure  consisted 
in  not  providing  for  her  own,  in  not  making  her 
people  thoroughly  Christian  at  home.  Had  she 
thoroughly  saved  herself  from  the  contamination 


THE  TESTIMONY  OF  CHURCH  HISTORY        77 

of  the  world  in  the  lands  in  which  she  was 
planted,  there  would  have  been  powerful  wit- 
nessing at  home  and  abroad.  Had  she  fulfilled 
her  mission  in  the  homeland,  she  would  not  only 
have  forestalled  Mohammedanism  there  but  she 
would  have  extended  her  sway  to  the  regions 
beyond.  Lacking  vitality  at  the  center,  a  debased 
and  weakened  Christianity  had  no  power  of  re- 
sistance or  expansion.  History  but  confirms  the 
teachings  of  the  Saviour  and  of  His  great  apostle 
to  the  Gentiles,  that  the  Church  can  only  succeed 
abroad  according  to  the  measure  in  which  she 
succeeds  at  home.  If  she  have  not  life  and 
strength  there,  she  cannot  manifest  it  anywhere. 

ROME  LOST  HER  OPPORTUNITY 

When  we  look  into  the  history  of  the  Church 
of  Rome  we  find  this  truth  corroborated.  Chris- 
tianity had  been  carried  thither  before  Paul  had 
written  his  Epistle  to  the  Romans  or  set  foot  in 
that  famous  city.  Doubtless,  *'the  sojourners 
from  Rome,  Jews  and  proselytes,"  who  had  re- 
ceived the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Spirit  on  the  day 
of  Pentecost,  were  the  first  witnesses.  When 
the  great  apostle  wrote  his  letter,  their  faith  had 
already  been  proclaimed  throughout  the  world, 
and  twenty-seven  of  the  disciples  of  Christ  resid- 
ing in  Rome  are  mentioned  by  name  in  his  salu- 
tations. The  Coliseum  and  the  Catacombs  attest 
the  faith  and  devotion  of  those  early  disciples. 


78       AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

For  years  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Christ  Jesus  was 
both  confessed  and  lived,  and  the  cross  was  car- 
ried triumphantly  into  the  countries  beyond.  But 
loving  rule  more  than  service,  esteeming  the 
treasures  of  the  world  more  than  the  reproach  of 
Christ,  she  became  devitalized  at  home  and  lost 
her  power  abroad. 

Zealous  and  Corrupt.  Rome  was  never  more 
zealous  abroad  than  when  she  was  most  corrupt 
at  home.  What  kind  of  a  Gospel  did  Xavier 
carry  when  he  baptized  ten  thousand  in  one 
month  in  India,  though  he  did  not  know  their 
language?  Like  the  Pharisees,  they  compassed 
land  and  sea  to  make  converts.  Was  it  not  the 
unbelief  and  worldliness  of  the  home  Church 
which  made  her  a  false  witness  abroad?  The 
stream  is  never  purer  and  higher  than  its  source. 
The  Church  can  but  export  what  she  produces 
at  home.  The  reflex  influence  of  the  work  done 
among  the  heathen  is  but  an  echo  of  that  per- 
formed among  her  own  people  in  the  homeland. 

SPAIN   LOST   HER  OPPORTUNITY 

Think  of  the  possibilities  and  opportunity  of 
Spain  at  and  preceding  the  period  of  the  Refor- 
mation !  W^ith  her  possessions  in  both  hemi- 
spheres, she  was  the  mightiest  power  among  the 
civilized  nations.  With  the  Reformation  knock- 
ing at  her  doors  and  the  wealth  of  the  New 
World  pouring  into  her  lap,  with  a  spirit  of  ad- 


THE  TESTIMONY  OF  CHURCH  HISTORY        79 

venture  and  a  zeal  for  converts  unsurpassed  by 
any  nation  of  that  day,  what  an  opportunity  for 
world  evangelization !  With  the  fires  of  inquisi- 
tion lighted  in  all  her  possessions  to  destroy  the 
noblest  witnesses  to  the  faith  she  professed,  and 
with  a  crucifix  instead  of  an  open  Bible,  her  cor- 
ruption at  home  became  her  undoing  abroad. 
In  proportion  as  she  closed  her  eyes  to  the  truth 
which  makes  free,  she  lost  her  possessions.  Be- 
cause the  Church  in  Spain  was  false  to  her  trust, 
the  Christian  Church  has  the  Mexican,  Cuban, 
Philippine  and  Latin  American  problems  await- 
ing solution.  What  Father  Sherman  said  about 
Cuba,  dominated  by  Spain  for  four  hundred 
years,  he  could  say  about  every  one  of  these 
countries — "A  Roman  Catholic  country  without 
religion."  It  is  here  again  the  character  of  the 
home  Church — the  value  which  she  is  to  the 
homeland — that  determines  her  effect  upon  the 
world. 

THE  FAILURE  OF  EUROPE 

We  might  go  through  every  country  of  Europe, 
Catholic  and  Protestant,  to  illustrate  the  self- 
evident  fact  that  the  effectiveness  of  the  Church 
is  determined  by  her  life  in  the  community  in 
which  she  is  planted,  that  she  can  only  grow 
abroad  as  she  grows  at  home,  and  that  the  cor- 
ruption, shortening  and  narrowing  of  the  home 
w^ork  deprives  her  of  the  power  of  extension 
abroad.     In  proportion  as  her  life  is  pure  and 


80       AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

Strong  at  home,  and  in  that  only,  will  be  her 
effectiveness  abroad.  This  principle  holds  good 
whether  we  examine  France  or  England,  Italy 
or  Switzerland,  Belgium  or  Holland,  Austria  or 
Germany.  The  Catholic  countries  suppressed  the 
truth  by  persecution  and  the  influence  of  the 
Church  is  seen  in  its  people,  the  community  in 
which  they  reside,  and  the  lands  to  which  they 
have  carried  a  defective  message.  In  the  Prot- 
estant countries,  whilst  the  truth  was  not  sup- 
pressed, the  free  and  full  development  of  the 
Church  was  hindered  by  the  influence  and  control 
of  the  state.  She  could  not  develop  the  holy  and 
vigorous  life  which  issues  from  the  pure  and 
unadulterated  Word,  and  hence  she  has  neither 
been  able  to  exercise  a  large  influence  upon  those 
nations  nor  upon  the  heathen  world.  The  pure 
and  noble  principles  of  the  Reformation,  the  doc- 
trine and  life  of  the  Apostolic  Church,  w^as  ham- 
pered by  their  environment.  This  has  hindered 
her  witnessing  at  home,  and  to  that  degree  has 
weakened  her  testimony  abroad. 

The  Church  of  Europe,  Catholic  more  than 
Protestant,  has  imposed  a  large  burden  upon  the 
Church  of  America,  the  United  States  and  Can- 
ada, because  she  has  not  christianized  the  masses 
which  come  to  us  at  the  rate  of  over  one  million, 
and  to  our  northern  neighbor  at  the  rate  of  more 
than  two  hundred  thousand,  per  year.  Had  the 
Church  in  Europe  done  her  full  duty  to  these 


THE  TESTIMONY  OF  CHURCH  HISTORY       81 

people,  we  could  expend  more  of  our  energy 
upon  the  work  in  foreign  countries;  yea,  were 
that  the  case,  instead  of  missionating  among  our 
Germans,  Scandinavians,  Slavs,  etc.,  to  bring 
them  into  the  fold  of  Christ,  they  would  add  to 
the  force  which  we  could  throw  against  heathen- 
ism. Then  the  work  in  our  large  cities  would  be 
comparatively  easy  and  the  problem  of  the 
American  cities  would  be  speedily  solved.  What 
a  dead  weight  to  the  Church  many  of  these 
people  are  in  the  countries  which  gave  them 
birth,  and  what  a  burden  upon  the  Churches  to 
whose  lands  they  come! 

COMPARISON  OF  THE  WORK  OF  TWO  DENOMINA- 
TIONS 

If,  now,  instead  of  making  the  comparison 
with  the  Church  in  different  ages  and  nations, 
we  compare  two  denominations  who  have  had 
what  we  might  call  a  one-sided  development,  the 
one  upon  the  foreign  and  the  other  upon  the 
home  field,  the  one  in  the  work  among  the 
heathen  and  the  other  among  the  household  of 
faith,  we  shall  see  that  the  neglect  of  the  home 
field  compels  the  neglect  of  the  foreign. 

Moravian  Church.  No  Church  has  been  more 
zealous  for  the  conversion  of  the  heathen  than 
the  Moravian,  and  no  Church  has  made  less 
nnpression  upon  the  land  in  which  she  came  into 
being  and   from   which   she   derives  her  name. 


82       AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

Resuscitated  by  the  hero  of  the  German  Refor- 
mation, she  traces  her  beginning  back  to  Huss. 
There  is  scarcely  a  land  blighted  by  heathenism 
where  she  has  not  borne  her  testimony.  But 
the  mountains  and  valleys  of  Moravia,  Austria, 
out  of  which  she  came,  have  been  left  to  the 
dominion  of  Rome.  She  has  neglected  her  home 
field  both  in  Europe  and  in  America;  she  has 
rather  diminished  than  increased  her  home  base ; 
and  in  consequence  she  has  been  constrained  to 
turn  some  of  her  fields  over  to  others.  Her 
people  are  still  Hberal  in  their  gifts  to  the  work 
abroad,  and  the  income  from  her  endowments 
swells  the  foreign  treasury,  but  her  lack  of  ex- 
pansion at  home  has  proportionately  diminished 
her  powder  abroad. 

The  Methodist  Church  has,  until  recently, 
given  almost  undivided  attention  to  home  fields 
in  Europe  and  America.  She  has  done  her  w  ork 
among  the  so-called  Christian  nations,  where  she 
has  been  able  to  gather  millions  of  the  sturdiest 
manhood  for  witnessing,  and  lay  hold  upon  the 
means  with  which  to  finance  an  expanding  work. 
Having  gathered  power  in  the  homelands,  and 
with  no  intention  of  relaxing  her  hold  upon  them, 
she  is  forging  ahead  with  wonderful  rapidity  in 
the  foreign  fields.  Whilst  the  Lord  was  opening 
up  the  heathen  world,  she  w^isely  gathered  the 
force  with  which  to  enter  when  the  doors  stood 
ajar.     We  shall  find,  as  time  unfolds  her  prog- 


THE  TESTIMONY  OF  CHURCH  HISTORY       83 

ress  and  development,  that  Wesley  was  a  wise 
missionary  general,  claiming  the  world  as  his 
parish,  but  laying  strong  foundations  in  Chris- 
tian lands,  the  most  highly  developed,  in  order 
to  gather  the  forces  for  the  larger  work. 

Hawaii's  lesson 

On  March  31,  1820,  the  ship  'Thaddeus" 
brought  the  first  missionaries  to  the  island.  God 
had  prepared  the  way.  King  Kamehameha  I 
had  abolished  human  sacrifices,  and  the  high 
priest  had  set  fire  to  the  heathen  temples.  In 
1825,  the  king's  mother,  the  regent  and  six  chiefs 
became  converts  to  Christ.  Christian  schools 
were  established  throughout  the  islands.  In 
1836,  thirty-two  additional  laborers  were  secured. 
In  three  years  more  the  disciples  had  grown  to 
20,cxx).  Mr.  Coan  alone  received  5000  in  one 
year  and  1700  in  one  day.  In  less  than  fifty 
years  the  Church  was  self-governing  and  self- 
supporting,  and  the  work  was  justly  heralded 
abroad  as  a  "glorious  exemplification  and  proof 
of  the  power  of  the  Gospel  in  missions,  for  the 
encouragement  of  the  Church  of  God  in  its 
efforts  for  the  conversion  of  the  world." 

But  the  home  Church  grew  lax  and  ceased  to 
prosecute  the  work  with  apostolic  zeal,  fervor 
and  piety.  In  the  place  of  an  aggressive  and  holy 
Christianity,  there  succeeded  a  perfunctory  ad- 
ministration of  the  means  of  grace  and  an  indif- 


84       AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

ference  to  the  precepts  of  the  Word.  The 
natives  lapsed  into  their  former  superstitions, 
and  the  incoming  host  from  other  lands  were 
not  brought  into  fellowship  with  Jesus.  Fetish- 
ism is  dominant  among  the  natives,  and  polygamy 
among  the  colonists.  Says  Dr.  Pierson,  "From 
the  time  of  Kamehameha,  idolatry  advanced  and 
Christianity  died."  The  light  has  become  dark- 
ness, and  the  salt  has  lost  its  savor.  And  the 
one-time  dominant  Christianity,  because  it  has 
ceased  to  be  the  force  at  home,  has  ceased  to  be 
a  power  abroad. 

THE   COMMON   SENSE  OF   IT 

It  is  because  we  desire  the  speedy  completion 
ot  the  work  of  the  witnessing  Church  that  we 
insist  upon  the  fundamental  importance  and 
primal  necessity  of  the  home  work;  yea,  of  see- 
ing to  it  that  that  portion  of  the  Church  is  living 
and  powerful  and  exercising  proper  influence 
upon  the  community  and  land  in  which  she  exists, 
as  a  prerequisite  to  her  effectiveness  in  the  for- 
eign land.  This  is  all  the  more  important  in  this 
age,  when  the  occurrences  in  Christian  lands  are 
well-scanned  and  exert  an  influence  for  weal  or 
woe  upon  the  heathen  countries.  The  character 
of  the  home  Church  not  only  determines  the 
character  of  the  missionaries  she  sends  to  other 
lands,  but  determines  the  reception  our  mission- 
aries will  receive.     The   fact  that  England  en- 


THE  TESTIMONY  OF  CHURCH  HISTORY        85 

forced  the  hated  opium  trade  on  China  prevents 
her  people  from  according  the  same  welcome  to 
English  missionaries  as  she  gives  to  those  com- 
ing from  countries  they  love  and  respect.  How 
m.uch  different  the  reception  of  American  ideals 
and  American  missionaries  because  we  dealt  most 
generously  with  China  at  the  Boxer  uprising! 
They  modeled  the  youngest  and  largest  republic 
in  the  world  after  our  government,  and  are  send- 
ing those  whom  they  expect  to  use  in  public  ser- 
vice, those  who  shall  be  the  most  influential  in 
their  land,  to  our  institutions  and  placing  them 
under  our  influence  for  training.  Nations  and 
their  profession  are  judged  by  their  deeds. 

1.  An  unchristianized  homeland  will  not  fur- 
nish the  men  and  the  means  for  the  conversion 
of  the  foreign. 

2.  Unchristianized  social,  economic  and  politi- 
cal conditions  in  the  homeland  will  discount  the 
work  of  our  missionaries  in  the  foreign. 

3.  Unchristianized  tourists  abroad  are  the  sur- 
est demonstration  that  Christianity  is  not  tri- 
umphant at  home. 

4.  The  students  from  heathen  lands,  imbibing 
the  unchristian  science  of  our  university  profes- 
sors, are  a  bulwark  against  the  advance  of  the 
religion  of  Jesus. 

JAPAN 

Dr.  Sidney  Gulick,  in  his  book,  "The  White 
Peril  in  the  Far  East,"  says:     "For  over  fifteen 


86        AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

years  missionaries  had  been  given  an  absolutely 
free  hand.  Privileges  of  travel  in  all  parts  of  the 
land  had  been  allowed  to  them  as  to  none  others. 
The  people  had  been  not  only  permitted,  but  al- 
most urged,  to  study  Christianity  and  to  accept 
it.  Even  the  formal  adoption  of  Christianity  as 
the  state  religion  had  been  seriously  considered 
by  responsible  thinkers.  As  a  result,  the  pros- 
pects of  Christianity  were  so  bright  by  the  close 
of  the  eighties  that  all  students  of  current  mat- 
ters believed  Japan  would  be  a  Christian  nation 
ere  the  close  of  the  century.  Having  in  the 
course  of  a  few  years  effected  such  radical  trans- 
formation in  her  governmental  methods  and  rul- 
ing ideas,  Japan  not  unnaturally  felt  that  she 
should  now  receive  recognition  of  equality  from 
western  governments.  Western  writers  had 
praised  her  reform  and  her  progress  without 
stint.  Missionaries  had  nothing  but  good  to  say 
of  her  people  and  administration,  and  were  ready 
to  accept  abolition  of  extra-territorial  clauses. 
When,  therefore,  the  Japanese  foreign  office 
began  to  agitate  afresh  for  treaty  revision,  and 
discovered  that,  in  spite  of  all  she  had  done, 
western  nations  still  doubted  her  ability,  and  still 
made  demands  which  would  have  been  an  insult 
ii  made  of  each  other,  it  is  not  strange  that  lead- 
ing Japanese  began  to  question  the  motives  of 
those  nations.  It  is  not  strange  that  they  became 
incensed  and  indignant." 


THE  TESTIMONY  OF  CHURCH  HISTORY        87 

What  destroyed  the  bright  prospects,  which, 
if  properly  utilized,  would  have  made  the  propa- 
gation and  acceptance  of  the  Gospel  easy  and 
sounded  the  death-knell  of  heathenism?  It  was 
because  of  the  condition  and  conduct  of  the  lands 
from  which  the  Christian  missionaries  had  come. 
Their  unholy  dealings,  their  false  philosophy  and 
perversion  of  Christianity,  caused  a  change  of 
attitude,  which  will  not  be  removed  until  these 
so-called  Christian  people  and  nations  manifest 
in  their  dealings  toward  them  the  spirit  of  the 
Christ. 

Rev.  A.  Herbert  Gray,  of  Glasgow,  Scotland, 
in  "Social  Service,"  page  171,  says:  "Our  wit- 
ness for  Christianity  in  foreign  lands  will  always 
lack  its  due  moral  weight  till  we  can  point  to  a 
civilization  in  our  own  country  that  shall  be 
Christian  in  fact  as  well  as  in  name.  Hundreds 
of  picked  men  from  China,  India  and  Japan  are 
in  our  universities.  They  go  and  visit  the  slums. 
They  discover  what  a  drab  and  weary  thing  life 
is  for  millions  under  our  industrial  system.  They 
take  notice  of  the  waste  of  child  life  that  goes 
on  in  our  midst.  They  make  note  of  the  ravages 
made  in  our  life  by  drunkenness  and  other  vices. 
They  are  clutched  by  the  horror  of  it  all.  And 
they  have  said  in  numbers,  Tf  this  be  all  the 
Christian  religion  can  make  of  a  country,  we  do 
not  want  it  for  ours.'  There  are  heathen  mil- 
lions who  do  not  see  the  causes  but  their  effects. 


88       AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

Let  the  causes  be  removed  and  their  effects  will 
be  changed;  let  the  heathen  world  see  but  one 
Christian  nation,  where  government  and  busi- 
ness are  all  serving  the  Lord,  where  everyone  is 
his  brother's  keeper,  where  the  strength  of  the 
strong,  the  wealth  of  the  rich,  the  wisdom  of  the 
learned  go  to  the  relief  of  the  weak,  the  poor 
and  the  ignorant,  and  you  will  not  need  another 
generation  before  idolatry  will  vanish,  heathen- 
ism cease,  and  Christ  be  worshiped  as  the  King 
of  the  earth." 

"Men  and  Religion  Messages"  says:  "So- 
cial redemption  at  home  has  an  immediate 
bearing  upon  the  success  of  the  missionary 
propaganda  abroad.  A  Gospel  that  does  not 
lift  the  burdens  and  exorcise  the  evil  spirit 
of  militarism,  that  cannot  prevent  the  indus- 
trial strife  and  heal  class  antagonism,  that 
allows  racial  prejudices  and  caste  snobbery,  that 
does  not  banish  drunkenness  and  social  impurity, 
that  fails  to  remove  the  causes  which  break  up 
the  home  by  divorce,  will  not  commend  itself  to 
keen-minded  seekers  for  a  religious  basis  for  a 
socially  healthy  nation.  And,  further,  the  social 
problems  which  confront  us  at  home  are  all  par- 
alleled on  the  foreign  fields,  and  the  solutions  we 
arrive  at  here  will  come  as  good  tidings  through 
missionaries  there."     (Vol.  II,  page  15.) 

If  our  national  deeds  do  not  conform  with  the 
beneficent  principle  of  Christ,  we  lose  in  power 


THE  TESTIMONY  OF  CHURCH  HISTORY        89 

for  good.  Hence  it  is  necessary  for  the  Church 
at  home  to  be  strong  in  the  Lord  and  in  the 
power  of  His  might. 

We  must  fully  understand  that  the  Church  can- 
not develop  a  life  and  exert  a  power  abroad, 
which  she  does  not  possess  at  home.  The  much- 
spoken-of  reflex  influence  of  Foreign  Missions 
upon  the  home  Church  is  nothing  more  nor  less 
than  the  echo  of  its  own  life  and  deeds. 

Reflex  Influence,  Mr.  Joseph  Ernest  Mc- 
Afee, in  "Missions  Striking  Home,"  says: 
"There  is  a  fallacy  which  ought  not  to  be  far 
to  seek,  in  the  contention  that  the  sending  upon 
?  Foreign  Mission  necessarily  reacts  to  the  sav- 
ing of  the  sender.  It  does  not  necessarily,  be- 
cause it  frequently  has  not  actually.  Her  For- 
eign Missions  did  not  save  Christian  Africa  of 
the  early  centuries;  hers  did  not  save  Syria;  hers 
did  not  save  Rome.  It  is  a  begging  of  the  ques- 
tion to  protest  that  these  did  not  prosecute  their 
Foreign  Missions  with  sufficient  vigor  and  purity 
of  motive.  Of  course  they  did  not.  A  true- 
motived  Foreign  Mission  reacts  as  a  powerful 
saving  factor,  adding  grace  to  grace.  But  pre- 
cisely in  that  adjective  lies  the  point  of  insistence. 
The  profound  truth  for  all  our  missionary  enter- 
prises near  or  far  is  that  the  saving  mission  is 
and  can  only  he  the  zvelling  forth  of  a  saved  life. 
The  unsaved  man  cannot  be  a  true  saviour,  and 
the   im.pact   of   the   unsaved   spiritual   organism, 


90       AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

such  as  is  this  land  of  ours,  cannot  in  the  truest 
sense  be  that  of  a  saving  power.  Unsaved  Amer- 
ica must  remain  at  best  a  lame  foreign  missionary 
agent."  Page  21 :  "A  Church  which  is  not  grip- 
ping the  Hfe  of  its  own  community,  and  is  not 
preaching  and  working  out  a  Gospel  which  reno- 
vates the  life  immediately  about,  must  always 
make  a  poor  success  of  bearing  an  effective  Gos- 
pel message  to  communities  in  the  distance.  The 
palpable  insincerity  of  a  program  which  encour- 
ages or  permits  such  a  travesty  must  always  crip- 
ple any  enterprise.  Surely  such  artificiality  and, 
insincerity  can  never  fit  into  a  system  which  calls 
itself  Christian  and  presumes  to  draw  its  inspira- 
tion from  Him  who  poured  forth  His  scorn  upon 
pretense." 

The  mirror  only  reflects  the  image  which  you 
place  before  it,  be  it  beautiful  or  hideous.  The 
force  with  which  the  ball  is  thrown  determines 
the  force  with  which  it  rebounds.  The  Church 
cannot  send  abroad  what  it  does  not  possess  at 
home.  The  character  of  a  Church,  like  the  char- 
acter of  a  man,  is  best  judged  at  home.  A  nation 
is  strong  and  influential  in  proportion  as  she  is 
strong  in  her  homeland.  According  to  the 
strength  of  character  and  manhood,  according  to 
the  nobility  of  her  aims  and  achievements  at 
heme,  will  be  her  influence  abroad.  If  the  Chris- 
tian Church  had  proven  true  to  the  Saviour  in 
the    homelands,    gathered    the    masses    and    the 


THE  TESTIMONY  OF  CHURCH  HISTORY        91 

classes  and  marshaled  them  for  the  world's  task, 
setting  them  on  fire  with  the  constraining  love  of 
Christ  for  the  salvation  of  the  world,  then  the 
work  could  now  be  completed  in  a  generation. 
This  is  the  method  which  Christ  outlined  and 
proposed,  which  the  Apostle  Paul  sought  to  real- 
ize, and  the  wisdom  of  which  the  entire  history 
of  the  Church  demonstrates.  This  is  the  solution 
of  the  problem,  and  the  only  solution. 


CHAPTER  V 

The  Scope  of  Home  Missions 

Home  Missions  are  a  group  of  activities,  attempting 
to  Christianize  the  United  States,  carried  on  by  the 
Churches. — H.  Paul  Douglass. 

^'Religion  uses  the  language  of  service  not 
less  than  that  of  faith.  Each  religious  organiza- 
tion, if  it  would  justify  its  existence,  adds  to  its 
machinery  of  worship  a  further  machinery  of 
work.  It  accepts  the  ancient  test  of  discipleship, 
'By  their  fruit  ye  shall  know  them' ;  it  condemns 
as  a  cardinal  sin  of  religion  the  sin  of  Cain,  *Am 
I  my  brother's  keeper';  it  holds  as  the  most 
precious  words  of  Jesus  His  self-dedication  to 
human  service,  'For  their  sakes  I  sanctify  my- 
self.' 

"But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  both  religion  and 
the  social  question  are  primarily  concerned  with 
life,  conduct,  duty,  feeling,  hope;  if  both  are  in- 
terpretations of  experience  in  the  world  that  now 
is — then  it  is  not  only  needless,  but  it  is  impos- 
sible, to  hold  them  asunder.  The  religion  which 
is  fit  for  the  present  age  must  be  a  social  religion ; 
the  social  question  which  the  present  age  has  to 
answer  must  be  a  religious  question;  and  both 
for  religion  and  the  social  question  the  most  im- 
minent peril  of  contemporary  thought  is  the  peril 
92 


THE  SCOPE  OF  HOME  MISSIONS  93 

of  provincialism — the  dealing  with  great  truths 
as  though  they  were  small  and  shut-in  experi- 
ences, set  in  a  corner  of  life  as  the  special  con- 
cern of  a  single  class.  If  either  religion  or  the 
social  question  has  any  meaning  for  the  world, 
it  is  a  universal  meaning;  not  as  though  they 
were  evanescent  eddies  in  the  stream  of  time,  but 
as  the  sweep  of  its  main  current  between  the 
banks  of  successive  ages  to  the  sea  of  human 
destiny." — Francis  Greenwood  Peabody. 

The  scope  of  the  work,  which  God  has  commit- 
ted to  Christians  individually  and  to  the  Church 
collectively,  may  be  known  from  His  aim,  ulti- 
mate design  and  purpose.  Its  sweep  and  range 
include  time  and  eternity,  body  and  soul,  creed 
and  deed,  confession  and  life,  sin  and  grace,  in- 
dividual and  community,  nation  and  nations — 
the  whole  world.  Everything  belongs  to  God,  and 
everything  is  to  serve  Him.  Lord  Melborne, 
after  hearing  a  searching  sermon,  protested, 
"Things  have  come  to  a  pretty  pass  when  re- 
ligion is  allowed  to  invade  the  sphere  of  private 
life."  Others  consider  religion  as  only  a  private 
matter,  and  would  exclude  its  dominance  from 
public  life.  The  Word  of  God,  Law  and  Gos- 
pel, cover  the  whole  round  of  life  and  activity, 
and  even  baptism,  which  individualizes,  is,  in  the 
Great  Commission,  connected  with  discipling  the 
nations.  The  Gospel  proclaims  for  all  and  the 
I^aw  is  over  all. 


94       AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

A  Faulty  Classification.  The  mediaeval  classi- 
fication of  things  into  secular  and  religious  has 
confused  thinking  and  perverted  morals.  The 
antithesis  to  religious  is  not  secular,  but  irre- 
ligious. It  is  on  a  par  with  the  Romanistic  two- 
fold holiness,  the  ordinary  and  extraordinary,  the 
one  for  the  secular  and  the  other  for  the  re- 
ligious life — the  progenitor  of  the  double  stand- 
ard of  morals.  Our  division  of  history  into 
sacred  and  profane  runs  into  the  same  danger, 
for  whilst  revelation  declares  His  connection  with 
the  one  and  enables  us  to  trace  His  hand  in  the 
other,  God  as  truly  overrules  the  afifairs  of  mod- 
ern America  as  He  did  in  ancient  Israel. 

We  cannot  worship  God  on  Sunday  and  serve 
the  devil  on  weekdays.  We  cannot  be  accepted 
in  the  sanctuary  if  we  are  unholy  in  the  counting- 
house.  All  things  are  sacred,  because  they  are  of 
God :  churches  and  factories,  Sundays  and  week- 
days, worship  and  amusement.  Whatever  we  do, 
whether  we  eat  or  drink,  work  or  play,  labor  or 
rest,  we  are  to  do  to  the  glory  of  God.  The 
difiference  is  in  the  importance,  not  in  the  sacred- 
ness  of  things. 

As  in  Revelation  God  spake  at  divers  times 
and  in  divers  manners,  so  in  our  comprehension 
and  application  of  the  same  He  constrains  us  to 
stress  and  emphasize  certain  doctrines  for  cer- 
tain periods.  The  early  Church  formulated  the 
doctrines  concerning  God  and  the  relation  of  the 


THE  SCOPE  OF  HOME  MISSIONS  95 

unity  and  the  trinity.  The  Reformation  was 
concerned  with  the  right  relations  and  duties  of 
the  individual.  To-day  we  are  concerned  with 
the  solidarity  of  the  race,  the  obligation  of  the 
individual  to  society,  government,  the  world,  and 
the  sphere  which  society,  government  and  the 
world  still  assign  to  the  individual.  Hence  the 
Church  in  this  age  cannot  escape  by  a  mere 
creedal  statement,  but  must  move  out  into  high- 
ways to  manifest,  by  word  and  deed,  the  power 
of  God. 

We  are  not  only  concerned  with  individual 
sins,  but  with  corporate  sins,  city,  state  and  na- 
tional sins,  not  only  with  a  sinful  heredity  but 
also  with  a  sinful  environment.  We  not  only 
save  the  unfortunate  from  the  slums  by  the 
Gospel,  but  we  must  destroy  the  slum  by  the  law. 
\Ye  not  only  save  the  drunkard  by  the  grace  of 
God,  but  we  close  up  the  saloon  and  remove,  as 
far  as  we  are  able,  all  hindrances  to  the  higher 
development  of  humanity. 

THE  TRUE   CONCEPTION 

From  the  essence  and  nature  of  Christianity 
we  may  learn  something  concerning  the  scope 
of  the  mission  work  of  the  Church.  Christian- 
ity is  the  only  religion  which  is  universal  and  of 
universal  application. 

Hegel  postulated  that  God's  approach  to  us 
and  our  communion  with   Him   is  through  the 


96       AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

intellect,  the  reason.  Schleiermacher  located 
it  in  the  feelings,  the  sensibilities.  Kant  placed 
it  in  the  will.  The  first  would  make  religion 
a  creed,  the  second  a  morality  and  the  third  a 
service.  The  first  would  eventually  run  to  ra- 
tionalism, the  second  to  mysticism,  and  the  third 
to  humanitarianism.  They  are  each  unbalanced, 
because  they  do  not  take  in  the  whole  man.  Each 
gives  only  one  side  of  Christianity.  The  triune 
God  approaches  us  and  we  hold  fellowship  with 
Him  through  all  three  avenues.  The  intellect 
must  know,  the  heart  love,  the  will  obey,  and  all 
knowledge,  affection  and  action  be  consecrated 
to  God.  Christianity  is  not  a  creed,  a  morality 
01  a  service.  It  is  none  of  these  singly  and  more 
than  the  three  combined.  It  is  a  life  from  God, 
mediated  in  Christ  and  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
through  Word  and  Sacrament  administered  by 
human  agency,  which  permeates  the  intellect, 
heart  and  will,  vitalizes  knowledge,  love  and  ser- 
vice in  oneness  with  Him.  Since  it  is  a  life  in 
communion  with  God,  that  life  must  go  forth  in 
fellowship  with  God  for  the  fulfilling  of  the 
divine  purpose  in  the  world  and  bringing  into 
obedience  to  God  of  everything  that  life  touches. 
It  is  the  whole  man — body,  soul  and  spirit — who 
goes  with  God  to  the  whole  task. 

''Every  life,  and  all  of  life  for  Christ,"  is  the 
all-absorbing  passion.  Then  we  shall  fully  com- 
prehend that  neither  a  deedless  creed  nor  a  creed- 


THE  SCOPE  OF  HOME  MISSIONS  > 

less  deed  fills  the  measure  of  God's  requirements. 
The  life  to  be  lived  must  come  from  God,  the 
direction  for  service  from  His  law,  and  the  scope 
of  our  activity  be  as  universal  as  His  love.  Then 
whatsoever  our  hand  findeth  to  do  in  all  this  wide 
world  will  be  done,  and  done  with  our  might. 

The  efforts  of  the  Church  evidence  her  con- 
ception of  the  scope  of  the  work.  It  was  not 
simply  for  the  soul  nor  the  individual.  The 
Apostolic  Church  added  the  service  of  tables  to 
the  service  of  the  Word  and  prayer. 

Prof.  John  William  Draper,  author  of  the 
"History  of  the  Intellectual  Development  of 
Europe,"  in  his  work  on  "Future  Civil  Policy  of 
America,"  says:  "We  vainly  attempt  the  im- 
provement of  a  race,  intellectually  and  morally, 
by  missionary  exertion  or  by  education,  unless  we 
simultaneously  touch  its  actual  physical  condi- 
tion, any  impression  made  upon  that  gives  the 
possibility  of  accomplishing  the  other.  Great 
amendments  in  the  daily  life  of  communities, 
great  improvements  in  the  manner  of  thinking, 
can  only  be  attained  by  corresponding  physical 
modifications."  Successful  missionary  efforts 
for  the  conversion  of  the  heathen  have  been 
marked  and  attended  by  changes  in  their  physi- 
cal conditions.  You  may  educate  the  Indian  at 
Carlisle  and  convert  him  in  the  Church,  but  if 
you  turn  him  back  to  his  tribal  life,  his  education 
usually  goes  to  seed  and  his  religion  to  the  dogs. 


98       AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

Physical  necessities  and  spiritual  ideals  control, 
and  if  the  latter  are  unable  to  regulate  the 
former,  there  will  be  retrogression.  God  is  the 
Creator  of  body  and  soul. 

Blessed  changes  has  Christ  effected  through 
the  Church  in  the  home,  in  society,  in  the  state 
and  in  the  world.  There  is  no  home  where  Christ 
must  not  control  the  ideals.  Since  God  was 
manifest  in  the  flesh,  laid  as  an  infant  in  Beth- 
lehem's manger,  the  status  of  childhood  has  been 
elevated  and  will  be  more  and  more.  Since  He 
associated  with  those  holy  women  who  were  last 
ac  the  cross  and  first  at  the  empty  tomb,  woman 
has  become  the  queen  of  the  home  and  placed 
on  equality  with  the  lords  of  creation.  Since 
the  Son  of  God  stooped  once  over  a  sawbuck 
at  the  carpenter's  bench,  the  shackles  have  fallen 
from  the  limbs  of  the  slave  and  honest  labor  is 
enriched  above  the  overweening  pride  of  wealth. 
Since  God  Himself  came  to  serve,  even  to  the 
washing  of  His  disciples'  feet,  governments  have 
been  converted  from  despotisms  to  democracies, 
and  rulers  from  tyrants  to  servants.  The  Church 
has  impressed  upon  the  world  a  new  ideal,  and  it 
remains  for  her  to  constrain  and  compel  its  ever 
fuller  realization.  She  has  been  the  leader  in 
every  work  of  mercy  and  relief,  and  she  must 
become  the  chief  factor  in  the  prevention  of 
wrong  and  improvement  in  righteousness. 

So  all  down  through  the  ages,  from  the  indi- 


T|IE  SCOPE  OF  HOME  MISSIONS  99 

vidual  to  the  family,  to  the  classes  and  masses, 
to  the  state  and  the  world,  she  has  enlarged  her 
activities.  She  has  been  the  inspiring  cause  of 
every  movement  for  the  uplift  of  communities 
and  nations.  Her  high  ideals  have  been  the  in- 
spiration even  of  men  who  have  denounced  her, 
and  men  who  were  in  and  yet  not  of  her  have 
brought  her  shame.  There  can  be  no  real  service 
of  man,  divorced  from  God.  All  the  forces  of 
the  world  should  be  pervaded  with  the  all-power 
of  Jesus. 

THE  LAW 

The  Word  of  God  as  to  its  content  is  divided 
into  Gospel  and  Law — salvation  and  godly  living. 
There  can  be  no  salvation  without  godly  living, 
and  there  can  be  no  godly  living  without  salva- 
tion. As  the  motive  is  the  soul  of  the  deed  and 
properly  defines  its  character,  there  can  be  no 
good  deed,  none  acceptable  to  God,  which  does 
not  center  in  love  to  God  and  those  created  in 
His  image.  While  it  centers  in  Him,  it  radiates 
out  to  all  creation,  and  our  opportunity  to  do 
good  is  the  measure  of  our  responsibility. 

The  Formula  of  Concord  sets  forth  the  three- 
fold purpose  and  use  of  the  law  thus :  "Since 
the  law  was  given  to  me  for  three  reasons :  First, 
that  thereby  outward  discipline  might  be  main- 
tained against  wild,  disobedient  men;  secondly, 
that  men  might  thereby  be  led  to  the  knowledge 
of  their  sins;  thirdly,  that  after  they  are  regen- 


109     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

erate,  and  the  flesh,  notwithstanding,  cleaves  to 
them,  they  may  have  on  this  account  a  fixed  rule, 
according  to  which  they  should  regulate  and 
direct  their  whole  life.  Thus  the  law  is  and  re- 
mains, both  to  the  penitent  and  impenitent,  both 
to  the  regenerate  and  unregenerate  man,  one  and 
the  same  law,  namely,  the  immutable  will  of 
God." 

GENERAL   LEGISLATION THE   COVENANT   OF   SINAI 

.  We  are  accustomed  to  speak  of  it  as  the  Ten 
Commandments,  while  the  Scriptures  call  it  the 
\\'ords.  We  have  regarded  it  as  law  super- 
imposed by  God,  whilst  Israel  looked  upon  it  as 
a  loving  covenant  into  which  they  willingly 
entered  with  Jehovah.  Dr.  Trumbull  says:  'Tn 
our  estimate  of  the  decalogue  we  have  made  too 
much  of  the  law  element,  and  too  little  of  the 
element  of  love.  But  the  Ten  Commandments 
are  simply  a  record  of  God's  loving  covenant 
with  His  people,  and  they  are  not  the  arbitrary 
commandings  of  God  to  His  subjects.  They 
indicate  the  inevitable  limits  within  wiiich  God 
and  His  people  can  be  in  loving  union,  rather 
than  declare  the  limits  of  dutiful  obedience  on 
the  part  of  those  who  would  be  God's  faithful 
subjects." 

The  words  begin,  "I  am  Jehovah  thy  God, 
which  brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt, 
out  of  the  house  of  bondage."     Thus  Jehovah, 


THE  SCOPE  OF  HOME  MISSIONS  101 

the  covenant-making  and  covenant-keeping  God, 
sets  forth  His  part  of  the  covenant  as  fulfilled, 
and  then  proceeds  to  unfold  the  part  which  His 
people  are  to  keep.  The  Saviour  sums  up  the 
teaching  of  the  two  tables  of  stone  in  two  com- 
mandments :  'Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God 
with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with 
ah  thy  mind.  This  is  the  first  and  great  com- 
mandment." And  the  second,  hke  unto  it,  is  this: 
'Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself.  On 
these  two  commandments  hang  all  the  law  and 
the  prophets."  (Matt.  22:37-40.)  Here  in  a 
summary  we  see  the  universal  scope  of  the  law 
which  sets  forth  the  universality  of  our  obliga- 
tions: God  and  our  fellow-man.  However  great 
may  be  our  duty  to  the  first,  our  duty  to  the  sec- 
ond is  "like  unto  it."  The  first  table  contains 
our  relation  and  obligation  to  God  the  *Theos," 
and  from  this  we  derive  our  theology.  The  sec- 
ond table  contains  our  relation  and  obligation  to 
our  neighbor,  our  ''socius,"  and  from  it  we  derive 
our  sociology.  We  can  never  serve  God  and 
maltreat  our  fellow-man.  When  Rome  com- 
manded her  devotees  to  find  salvation  by  selfishly 
enclosing  themselves  in  monasteries  and  nunner- 
ies, these  institutions  became  the  hotbed  of  in- 
iquity. It  is  not  upon  one  of  these  command- 
ments separated  from  the  other,  but  upon  the 
two,  unitedly  observed  and  kept,  on  which  hang 
all  the  law  and  the  prophets.    A  dreamy  religious 


102     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

mysticism  on  the  one  hand,  and  a  busy,  busthng 
humanitarianism  on  the  other,  fall  short  of  our 
covenant  obligations. 

SPECIFIC    LEGISLATION 

The  festivals  observed  by  the  appointment  of 
Jehovah  were  folkfests,  to  commemorate  the 
blessings  Israel  enjoyed.  Religion  was  to  domi- 
nate their  work  and  play,  their  adversities  and 
joys.  The  Sabbath  rest  was  a  day  of  rejoicing 
in  blessed  fellowship  with  God  and  each  other, 
and  not  a  day  of  gloom.  The  Passover  and  the 
gathering  of  the  first  fruits  was  their  day  of 
emancipation,  far  greater  than  our  Fourth  of 
July.  It  signalized  deliverance  for  time  and 
eternity.  Pentecost  reminded  them  of  God's 
covenant  at  Sinai  as  well  as  His  covenant  with 
Noah,  and  in  the  ingathering  of  the  wheat  harvest 
they  had  the  proof  that  seed  time  and  harvest 
should  not  fail.  The  festival  of  trumpets  and 
tabernacles  were  days  when  the  people  were  to 
''make  great  mirth"  and  rejoice  before  God  and 
with  one  another.  Religion  was  not  a  round  of 
gloom,  but  of  gladness,  in  Israel. 

The  distribution  of  the  soil  to  the  families 
was  on  the  unchangeable  principle,  "The  land  is 
mine"  and  to  it  all  have  equal  rights.  Vedder 
trenchantly  says:  "The  Jewish  land  tenure,  as 
has  often  been  pointed  out,  was  essentially  social- 
istic, with  its  provision  of  reversion  to  the  origi- 


THE  SCOPE  OF  HOME  MISSIONS  103 

nal  owner  in  every  jubilee  year.  Modern  society 
shows  a  tendency  to  come  back  to  the  Mosaic 
doctrine  that  rent  and  interest  are  in  their  nature 
immoral.  But  again  we  are  assured  that  busi- 
ness could  not  be  carried  on  without  them.  It  is 
perfectly  true  and  perfectly  conclusive  that  mod- 
ern business  ought  not  to  be  carried  on."  The 
Church  must  review  its  attitude  to  the  capital- 
istic and  the  competitive  system  in  the  light  of 
God's  Word  and  speak  to  selfish  humanity  in 
His  name.  The  question  is  raised  whether  the 
principles  of  capitalism  or  those  which  God  laid 
down  in  the  Jewish  economy  should  prevail. 

The  exact  regulations  of  diet  and  of  the  sani- 
tation of  buildings  and  measures  against  conta- 
gious diseases  indicate  that  healthfulness  of  the 
body,  the  housing  of  people  and  the  sanitation  of 
cities  are  religious  matters — not  secular.  The 
declarations,  "There  shall  be  no  poor  among 
you,"  no  thief,  no  murderer,  no  adulterer,  no 
slanderer,  no  covetous  man,  etc.,  must  set  us  to 
the  removal  of  poverty  and  crime.  The  kindness 
and  gentleness  to  be  shown  to  animals  accord- 
ing to  God's  law,  proves  that  it  is  not  beneath 
the  dignity  of  the  Church  to  foster  and  support 
the  efforts  of  the  humane  society." 

Testimony  of  Canon  Freemantle.  "The 
Hebrew  law  was  lovable,  because  it  incessantly 
demanded  care  for  the  poor.  Just  dealing  in 
trade,  respect  for  age,  friendliness  for  neighbors. 


104     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

dutifulness  to  parents,  were  all  included  under 
the  same  majestic  sanction.  To  abuse  the  deaf, 
to  make  the  blind  go  out  of  their  way,  were  ac- 
tions accursed.  When  the  harvest  came  the  rich 
man  was  not  to  gather  all  the  produce  or  to  rake 
up  every  ear  from  the  ground,  but  to  leave  some 
for  the  fatherless  and  widows  to  glean.  In  Israel 
the  care  of  widows  was  the  object  of  peculiar 
care,  a  care  attributed  to  God  Himself.  When 
a  poor  man  had  pledged  his  garment,  he  was  to 
be  allowed  the  use  of  it  for  the  night ;  if  he  was 
in  debt,  no  interest  was  to  be  charged  him,  and 
at  the  end  of  the  jubilee  year  he  was  to  be  free; 
if  he  had  sold  himself  into  slavery,  he  was  not 
to  remain  beyond  the  sixth  year,  and  his  wealthier 
brother  whom  he  had  served  was  not  to  send  him 
away  empty,  but  to  give  him  help  to  recommence 
his  career  as  a  freeman."  The  book  of  Prov- 
erbs is  still  an  excellent  business  manual.  The 
teaching  of  the  prophets,  true  statesmen  because 
religious  teachers  of  an  ideal  morality,  may  still 
be  followed  with  profit  in  the  councils  of  the 
nations. 

**The  Jewish  community  was  a  brotherhood 
bound  together  by  worship  and  a  law  of  right- 
eousness, and  it  gave  birth  to  the  righteousness 
which  is  owned  as  complete,  where  that  of  Rome 
and  Greece  fails.  The  ideal  we  seek  in  modern 
times  is  that  of  a  national  community  knit  to- 
gether in  all  its  relations  by  righteousness  and 


THE  SCOPE  OF  HOME  MISSIONS  105 

love,  and  caring  especially  for  its  weaker  mem- 
bers. This  neither  Greece  nor  Rome  did,  but 
only  the  Jewish  nation.  Let  those  who  would 
make  Christianity  merely  a  religious  system  apart 
from  the  common  life  of  men,  those  who  ascribe 
to  it  a  sacerdotal  or  a  dogmatic  basis,  those  who 
conceive  of  God  as  apart  from  human  rela- 
tions, and  of  religion  as  a  merely  individual  con- 
nection with  Him,  see  to  it  that  they  do  not  fall 
below  the  Hebrew  ideal.  Those  who  appreciate, 
that  ideal  most  fully,  and  dwell  most  on  the 
divine  element  pervading  it,  will  see  clearly  that 
it  points  to  none  of  these  as  its  proper  develop- 
ment, but  to  an  all-embracing  society,  including 
the  whole  range  of  human  interests  and  binding 
all  men  and  classes  and  nations  together  in  true 
relations,  which  are  the  work  and  the  expression 
of  the  Spirit  of  God."  Jehovah,  the  same  yes- 
terday, to-day  and  forever,  must  desire  for  His 
people  of  the  New  Testament  the  ideal  condi- 
tions He  prescribed  for  those  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. 

THE  GOSPELS 

The  attitude  of  Jesus  on  the  social  question 
we  gather  from  the  Gospels.  In  quoting  the  ex- 
ample of  Jesus  we  must  not  overlook  two  facts: 
First,  that  in  His  first  advent  He  fulfilled  the 
offices  of  Prophet  and  High  Priest,  and  not  that 
of  King;  and  secondly,  that  He  committed  the 
work  to  the  Holy  Ghost  and  the  Church.     He 


106     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

Himself  did  not  even  baptize,  and  only  on  the 
last  day  of  His  earthly  ministry  instituted  the 
Holy  Communion. 

When  we  assert  that  He  was  no  mere  political 
or  social  reformer,  we  declare  that  He  was  more. 
He  was  a  Teacher  come  from  God,  whose  spir- 
itual message  was  to  transform  man  and  the  con- 
ditions under  which  he  lived.  The  regeneration 
of  individuals  must  precede,  and  form  the  basis 
for,  the  reformation  of  communities  and  nations. 
He  demonstrated  to  His  disciples,  and  continues 
and  renews  that  demonstration  in  every  conver- 
sion, that  right  relation  to  God  is  fundamental  to 
right  relation  to  man  and  society,  and  that  the 
salvation  of  one  man  was  worth  more  than  all 
this  globe.  Not  a  surface  white-wash,  but  a 
thorough-going  wash-white,  is  required.  No 
clean  clothes,  no  science  or  worldly  wisdom,  ean 
ever  redeem  the  world. 

But  Jesus  also  emphasizes  social,  national  and 
world  obligation.  To  Him  the  second  command- 
ment, which  referred  to  man  and  all  his  relations, 
was  of  like  obligation  as  the  first.  In  the  story 
of  the  Jericho  road.  He  taught  that  all  men  are 
our  neighbors,  whom  we  are  to  love  as  we  love 
ourselves ;  that  race  prejudice  must  be  laid  aside 
and  that  helpfulness  must  be  extended  according 
to  need.  In  His  "Render  unto  Caesar  the  things 
that  are  Caesar's,  and  unto  God  the  things  that 
are  God's,  He  linked  obligation  to  earthly  and 


THE  SCOPE  OF  HOME  MISSIONS  107 

heavenly  rulers,  to  state  and  Church  together. 
The  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  His  parables  and  the 
rest  of  His  words  and  works  set  forth  the  ideal 
which  He  would  have  His  disciples  more  and 
more  realize  on  earth.  His  spiritual  messages 
were  never  dissassociated  from  the  physical  needs 
of  mankind,  and  all  centered  in  bringing  in  the 
kingdom. 

The  Epistles.  "In  almost  every  New  Testa- 
ment epistle,  while  the  first  part  deals  with  some 
Christian  truth,  the  last  part  of  the  writing  deals 
w^holly  with  social  rights  and  duties.  The  stout 
stem  of  doctrine  blossoms  out  into  practical 
ethics.  The  Epistles  to  the  Corinthians  are  ad- 
dressed to  the  'wickedest  city  of  the  ancient 
world,'  and  there  is  hardly  a  form  of  social  evil 
they  do  not  discuss.  The  regulations  of  mar- 
riage, the  lawlessness  of  divorce,  the  duties  of 
parents  and  children,  the  Christian  view  of  law- 
courts  and  litigation,  the  Christian  attitude 
toward  feasts  and  festivals,  even  women's  dress 
and  coiffure — these  are  a  few  of  the  subjects 
which  the  writer  treats  with  utmost  frankness. 
In  other  letters  the  apostle  discusses  respect  for 
magistrates,  obedience  to  law,  the  payment  of 
taxes,  honesty  in  financial  transactions,  the  duty 
of  self-support,  the  relation  of  master  and  slave. 
No  modern  treatise  on  social  science  is  more 
obviously  and  directly  concerned  with  social  obli- 


108     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

gations  and  abuses  of  every  kind  which  set  forth 
Christ  as  the  Master  of  mankind." 

Prayer.  The  scope  of  the  activities  of  a  Chris- 
tian and  of  the  Church  is  fix^  by  what  they 
should  ask  of  God.  They  must  be  concerned  for 
the  things  for  which  they  pray.  Read  the  prayers 
of  the  Bible  in  Old  and  New  Testaments.  Study 
carefully  the  Lord's  Prayer  and  see  what  it  in- 
cludes. Examine  the  Litany  and  the  other 
prayers  of  the  Church,  and  you  will  find  that  they 
are  separate  items  of  the  Great  Commission  and 
that  they  range  all  the  way  from  the  giving  and 
getting  of  daily  bread  to  the  proclamation  and 
coming  of  the  kingdom.  They  include  the  neces- 
sities and  support  of  the  life  that  now  is  and 
that  which  is  to  come.  Prayer  is  communion 
with  God,  in  which  we  feel  His  presence,  enter 
into  His  fellowship,  become  His  companions  and 
consecrate  our  energies  to  fulfill  His  purpose. 
Our  petitions  for  ourselves,  our  neighbors,  the 
Church  and  all  her  interests,  our  nation  and  all 
the  world,  and  what  is  for  their  good,  are  the 
things  which,  with  His  aid,  we  labor  to  accom- 
plish. We  go  to  Him  because  we  cannot  do  with- 
out Him,  and  He  receives  us  that  He  may  send 
us  away  with  renewed  strength  to  fulfill  the 
desires  of  our  hearts.  The  man  who  prays,  and 
stops  at  that,  has  never  prayed.  The  scope  of 
prayer  is  the  scope  of  both  privilege  and  obliga- 
tion. 


THE  SCOPE  OF  HOME  MISSIONS  109 

CHURCH   AND   STATE 

There  are  three  institutions  of  God  on  earth: 
the  family,  the  Church  and  the  state.  They  are 
equally  divine  in  origin  and  obligation:  co-ordi- 
nate. Dr.  Robert  E.  Speer,  in  "The  Christian 
Man,  the  Church  and  the  War,"  says,  "The 
same  man  belongs  to  all  three,  and  he  cannot 
separate  himself  from  any  of  them  unless,  of 
course,  he  becomes  an  outlaw  from  his  family, 
an  expatriate  from  his  state,  or  foregoes  his 
place  in  the  Church."  "Roughly,  it  suffices  to 
characterize  the  family  as  the  institute  of  affec- 
tions, the  state  as  the  institute  of  right,  and  the 
Church  as  the  institute  of  humanity." 

The  state  has  three  functions:  legislative,  judi- 
cial and  executive;  it  makes,  interprets  and 
executes  its  own  laws.  The  Church  never  claims 
the  right  to  any  of  these  functions,  but  it  has  its 
God-given  duty  to  protest  against  unjust  legis- 
lation, a  corrupt  judiciary  and  a  grafting  execu- 
tive, and  labors  for  righteousness  in  every  depart- 
ment of  life.  The  Church  can  no  more  stand  by 
without  protest  and  earnest  exertions  against  in- 
justice by  the  state  to  any  individual,  class  or 
nation,  than  the  state  can  tolerate  injustice  by 
the  Church. 

The  Church  is  the  body  of  which  Christ  is  the 
Head.  It  is  to  speak  and  work  for  Him.  She 
is  to  present  the  Christ  in  His  threefold  office  of 
Prophet,    Priest    and    King,     He    is    the    great 


110     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

Teacher,  who  speaks  as  man  never  spake,  whom 
all  men,  subjects  and  rulers,  are  to  heed.  He  is 
the  Great  High  Priest  who  has  reconciled  us  to 
God,  through  whom  alone  men  can  be  saved.  He 
is  the  God-appointed  Ruler  of  the  nations,  whose 
righteous  laws  and  principles  alone  bring  bless- 
ing. She,  as  His  body,  His  mouth,  hands  and 
feet,  must  testify  and  labor  to  have  the  state  act 
Christlike  in  all  its  relations.  She  is  the  co- 
ivitness,  the  co-laborer  and  co-sufferer  with  the 
triune  God.  She  must  speak  the  Word  which 
she  hears  from  Him  and  do  the  work  which  He 
commands,  even  to  the  point  of  suffering.  She 
may  not  take  the  law  of  the  land  in  her  own 
hands  and  execute  a  David  for  his  crime  against 
Uriah,  but  she  must  testify  like  Nathan  until  he 
repents  and  forsakes  his  sin.  She  may  not  com- 
pel Ahab  to  restore  Naboth's  vineyard,  but  she 
must  testify  and  call  upon  God  and  the  nation, 
and  persist  until  the  false  prophets  are  shorn  of 
their  power,  and  justice  reigns  in  Israel.  She 
may  not  by  force  close  the  red  light  districts,  but 
she  can  testify  and  labor  for  the  enactment  of 
righteous  laws  and  for  their  equitable  enforce- 
ment by  those  who  have  misused  the  offices  en- 
trusted to  them.  She  must  pray  and  labor,  zvit- 
ness  and  work  to  have  accomplished  in,  for  and 
among  men  the  whole  will  of  God.  Her  duty 
does  not  end  with  simply  confessing  and  wit- 
nessing to  the  truth,  but  she  must,  by  every  power 


THE  SCOPE  OF  HOME  MISSIONS  111 

within  her  and  every  opportunity,  strive  to  make 
that  truth  the  spring  of  action  for  men  and 
nations. 

The  reason  which  Luther  gave  for  addressing 
the  Christian  nobility  of  the  German  nation  in 
his  day,  instead  of  the  clergy  of  his  time,  was, 
"In  the  hope  that  God  may  deign  to  help  His 
Church  through  the  effort  of  the  laity,  since  the 
clergy,  to  whom  the  task  more  properly  belongs, 
have  grown  quite  indifferent."  He  not  only  in- 
sisted on  personal  regeneration,  but  on  national 
reformation.  He  was  no  less  under  obligation 
to  issue  his  address  to  the  Christian  nobility  of 
Germany  for  the  moral  health  of  the  nation  than 
he  was  to  nail  the  ninety-five  theses  for  the  sal- 
vation of  men's  souls.  Surely  opposition  to,  and 
removal  of,  all  sin  and  labor  for  the  maintenance 
and  enthronement  of  righteousness  is  the  special 
province  and  function  of  Christ's  Church — clergy 
and  laity  alike. 

The  question  as  to  whether  the  Church  in  her 
official  capacity,  or  Christians  alone  as  citizens  in 
their  individual  capacity,  should  labor  for  social 
justice  and  national  righteousness,  has  been 
raised.  It  is  a  subterfuge,  and  leads  into  a  blind 
alley.  The  Church  is  Christ's  body,  and  indi- 
vidual Christians  are  the  separate  members  of 
that  body,  joined  to  that  body,  and  form  that 
body.  Each  member  of  that  body,  collectively, 
is  equally  bound  to  do,  as  opportunity  presents. 


112     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

what  God's  Word  demands.  A  Christian  cannot 
do  what  the  Church  would  not  do  if  it  possessed 
his  opportunity.  One  has  said,  "The  Church 
cannot  go  on  preaching  Christ  to  individuals  and 
Machiavelli  to  the  nation.  At  last  the  high  gods 
weary  of  such  stupidity,  and  send  the  deluge." 

The  human  agency  must  live  the  divine  life, 
and  then  the  world  will  believe.  When  the 
Church  becomes  one,  in  a  unified  program  for 
the  regeneration  of  the  individual  and  of  the 
world,  there  will  be  no  difficulty  in  having  the 
world  believe  it  to  be  a  divine  institution  and 
that  Jesus  is  the  Saviour  of  the  race. 

All  Questions  Ethical  and  Religious  in  the  End. 
Hence  the  Church  is  interested  in  all  these  ques- 
tions. Slavery  was  at  first  considered  to  be  an 
economic  question.  When  the  results  of  such  en- 
forced service  manifested  themselves  more  and 
more,  the  Christian  conscience  was  aroused. 
There  was  then  no  splitting  of  hairs  as  to  whether 
a  man  should  testify  and  labor  against  slavery  as 
a  citizen  or  as  a  Christian,  and  when  he  should 
put  on  his  citizenship  and  submerge  his  Chris- 
tianity, or  vice  versa.  No  one  raised  the  ques- 
tion as  to  whether  a  woman  like  Harriet  Beecher 
Stowe  had  a  right  to  arouse  sentiment  by  writ- 
ing "Uncle  Tom's  Cabin."  No  one  thought  it 
out  of  place  for  Christians  as  Christians  and 
Churches  as  Churches,  Synods  as  Synods  and 
General  Bodies  as  General  Bodies,  to  resolve, 


THE  SCOPE  OF  HOME  MISSIONS  113 

protest  and  stir  up  the  nation  until  Abraham 
Lincoln  signed  the  Declaration  of  Emancipation 
and  freed  four  million  slaves.  The  World  War 
has  forced  us  away  from  hare-brained  theories 
to  stern  realities.  The  Church  worked  for  Lib- 
erty Loans  and  encouraged  her  sons  to  enlist, 
decorated  her  sanctuaries  with  flags,  and  gath- 
ered her  women  into  her  churches  to  sew  and 
knit.  General  Bodies  and  churches,  as  well  as 
individuals,  were  encouraged  to  cheer  the  state, 
and  this  because  we  believed  it  to  be  a  just  war. 
Suppose  we  were  engaged  in  an  unjust  war — 
what  then  ?  Is  God  or  the  state  supreme  ?  God's 
rule  is,  "As  we  therefore  have  opportunity 
(whether  individual  or  collective  Christians)  let 
us  do  good."  Certainly  the  priests'  lips  must 
keep  knowledge  and  the  Church  must  be  fully 
assured  before  speaking  in  God's  name.  But 
having  the  more  sure  word,  she  must  speak,  and, 
being  the  servant  of  the  Most  High,  she  must 
toil  and  sacrifice  to  bring  in  the  kingdom  of  God 
and  its  righteousness. 

THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD 

Among  the  inspired  writers,  from  Moses  to 
St.  John,  the  hope  of  the  world  has  been  the 
establishment  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  On  their 
way  to  Canaan,  God  said,  "Now  therefore  if  ye 
will  obey  my  voice  indeed  and  keep  my  covenant, 
then  shall  ye  be  mine  own  possession,  for  all  the 


114     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

earth  is  mine ;  and  ye  shall  be  unto  me  a  kingdom 
of  priests,  a  holy  nation."  Here  the  national, 
and  in  Abraham  the  international,  scope  of  the 
work  is  clearly  taught.  But  they  would  not,  and 
the  kingdom  was  to  be  given  to  a  nation  bringing 
forth  the  fruits  thereof.  God  finally  finds  a 
nation,  for  in  the  apocalyptic  vision  John  de- 
clares, ''The  kingdom  of  the  world  is  become  the 
kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  of  His  Christ;  and 
He  shall  reign  forever  and  ever."  (Rev.  11:15.) 
The  Kingdom  Is  Here  and  Yet  to  Come.  The 
announcement  of  John,  the  forerunner,  was, 
"Repent,  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand." 
Announced  by  the  forerunner,  present  in  every 
believer,  congregation  and  conquest  of  righteous- 
ness, it  will  be  completed  in  Christ.  Some  com- 
mentators regard  the  term  "kingdom  of  heaven" 
as  the  present  state,  and  "kingdom  of  God"  as  the 
final  stage,  of  the  kingdom.  Christ's  Sermon  on 
the  Mount  and  His  parables  are  expositions  of 
the  kingdom.  The  Church  is  to  labor  for  the 
establishment  of  the  kingdom.  By  her  diligence 
she  can  hasten,  as  by  her  negligence  she  has  re- 
tarded, that  blessed  consummation.  To  the 
Church  He  has  given  the  keys  of  the  kingdom, 
that  by  Word  and  Sacrament  she  might  loose 
men  from  their  sin  and  unite  them  with  God. 
Every  conversion,  every  putting  down  of  unright- 
eousness, marks  the  advance  of  the  rule,  the 
realm,  the  kingdom  of  God. 


THE  SCOPE  OF  HOME  MISSIONS  115 

Daniel  likens  the  kingdom  to  a  stone  cut  out 
of  the  mountain  without  hands,  coming  down, 
overturning  and  displacing  the  kingdoms  of  the 
world,  filling  the  earth  with  its  power  and  glory. 
Amos  sets  forth  its  justice,  Hosea  its  mercy, 
Micah  its  forgiveness,  Isaiah  its  redemption,  and 
Ezekiel  its  regeneration.  Paul  says,  'The  king- 
dom of  God  is  righteousness,  joy  and  peace  in 
the  Holy  Ghost."  These  terms  set  forth  its 
essence,  its  ideals  and  its  blessings.  That  king- 
dom was  not  "within"  the  Pharisees,  but  in  their 
midst.  It  was  there  in  its  potentiality  in  Christ, 
the  Redeemer  and  King.  James,  Peter  and  John 
did  not  see  death  until,  on  the  Mount  of  Trans- 
figuration, they  saw  it  in  miniature,  come  with 
power.  There  was  Jesus  resplendent  in  glory, 
Moses  a  type  of  the  risen,  and  Elijah  of  the 
translated  saints,  and  there  were  James  and  John 
and  Peter  in  the  flesh,  with  gladness  ready  to 
abide  forever. 

We  distinguish  hetzveen  the  extent  and  content 
of  th^  kingdom.  Many  persons  reside  and  labor 
in  America  who  are  aliens.  There  is  much  prop- 
erty which  belongs  to  foreigners,  and  there  are 
principles  advocated  and  ideals  upheld  which  are 
contrary  to  ours.  They  are  in  the  extent,  not  in 
the  content  of  the  kingdom.  The  content  of  the 
kingdom  is  Jesus,  its  King.  His  co-regents  are 
the  children  of  the  kingdom.  Even  after  the 
second  advent  and  on  up  to  the  harvest  there  will 


116     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

be  in  the  kingdom  those  who  defile  and  make  a 
lie.  But  when  these  are  gathered  out,  when  the 
risen  and  glorified  saints  shall  rule  with  Christ, 
then  the  kingdom  shall  have  come  in  its  fullness, 
the  distinction  between  content  and  extent  will 
have  vanished. 

Definitions.  Vedder,  in  "Socialism  and  Ethics 
of  Jesus,''  page  343  ff,  says :  "The  kingdom  in- 
deed connoted  the  ideas  of  a  commonwealth  of 
righteousness,  peace  and  plenty.  The  kingdom 
was  one  in  which  God  should  rule,  righteousness 
should  prevail,  good  triumph,  in  which  the  poor 
in  spirit  shall  come  to  their  own,  the  meek  inherit 
the  earth,  the  merciful  obtain  mercy,  and  the 
peacemakers  be  called  the  children  of  God.  It 
was  the  conception  of  a  society,  ordered  by  law. 
If  Jesus  could  have  won  the  Jews  to  acceptance 
of  His  spiritual  kingdom  of  God  and  re-organ- 
ized society,  Jerusalem  would  have  been  saved, 
and  the  Jewish  race  would  have  been  promoted 
to  the  hegemony  of  the  earth. 

'Tt  is  a  kingdom  impossible  to  the  natural  man ; 
so  as  to  enter  it,  he  must  be  born  again  from 
above.  Men  cannot  compel  the  coming  of  such 
a  kingdom  as  the  Spirit,  though  they  can  do 
much  to  hasten  it.  God  alone  can  set  it  up. 
The  kingdom  and  the  power  and  the  glory  are 
His. 

"It  is  the  marked  feature  of  the  teaching  of 
Jesus  that  He  holds  in  just  equipoise  the  two 


THE  SCOPE  OF  HOME  MISSIONS  117 

great,  equally  necessary,  ethical  truths :  first,  that 
society  cannot  be  regenerated  except  by  the  birth 
of  individual  souls  into  a  new  life ;  and,  secondly, 
that  the  individual  cannot  exist  apart  from  so- 
ciety, and  cannot  be  saved  apart  from  his  social 
relations. 

"They  miss  the  mark  altogether,  therefore, 
who  say  that  Jesus  was  concerned  solely  with  the 
world  of  spirit,  that  He  endeavored  to  found  an 
exclusively  spiritual  community.  To  accept  His 
teaching  was  and  is  impossible  without  making 
an  attempt  to  carry  them  into  every  relation  of 
life.  The  teachings  of  Jesus  are  spiritual,  no 
doubt,  but  their  effect,  just  so  far  as  they  really 
prevail,  is  necessary  to  reconstitute  the  individual 
spirit  not  only,  but  to  reconstitute  the  society  in 
which  the  Christian  spirits  dwell. 

"We  find  Him  describing  the  kingdom  as  both 
present  and  future,  that  is  to  say,  a  present  pos- 
session, whose  full  consummation  lies  in  the 
future,  when  God's  love  shall  have  completely 
conquered  the  evil  in  the  world  and  restored  men 
to  His  likeness." 

Edersheim  says:  "Three  ideas  did  the  king- 
dom of  God  imply :  universality,  heavenliness, 
permanency.  Wide  as  God's  domain  would  be 
His  dominion;  holy  as  heaven  in  contrast  to 
earth,  and  God  to  man,  would  be  its  character; 
and  triumphantly  lasting  its  continuance." 

The  kingdom  is  a  gift  and  a  task :  a  "gabe  und 
aufgabe." 


118     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

Duty  the  Same,  Though  Viezvs  Differ. 
Whether  we  be  post-  or  pre-millenialists,  able 
with  the  present  means  and  agencies  to  estab- 
Hsh  the  kingdom  in  its  fullness  or  hastening  His 
coming  for  that  purpose,  the  establishment  of  the 
kingdom  must  be  the  divine  ideal  for  which  we 
labor.  The  kingdom  is  the  divinely  fixed  goal, 
and  the  degree  of  its  realization  in  the  march  of 
time  depends  on  the  fidelity  and  intelligence  of 
the  Church.  Prophecy  is  the  fore-announcement 
of  the  divinely  fixed  goal  and  of  the  winding 
course  of  history,  contingent  upon  the  conduct 
of  men,  be  it  good  or  evil.  It  is  a  warning  against 
sin  and  an  incentive  to  righteousness.  The  pre- 
dicted destruction  of  Nineveh  is  reversed  when 
that  city  repents  at  the  preaching  of  Jonah.  The 
sentence  of  the  immediate  death  of  Hezekiah  is 
suspended  and  fifteen  years  added  to  his  life 
when  he  beseeches  the  Lord.  The  Saviour  sends 
His  Spirit  with  special  charismata  upon  Israel, 
that  they  repent  and  receive  seasons  of  refresh- 
ing from  the  presence  of  the  Lord  instead  of  the 
doom  pronouncd.  There  is  nothing  in  the 
prophecy  that  the  faith  will  be  at  a  low  ebb  at 
the  second  advent,  to  compel  any  individual  or 
individuals  to  be  without  the  faith,  nor  force  this 
or  any  other  nation  to  be  allied  with  antichrist 
in  the  final  conflict.  We  can,  if  we  will,  turn  the 
course  of  history  without  changing  its  goal.  We 
can  do  far  more  than  we  have  done.     The  rule 


THE  SCOPE  OF  HOME  MISSIOxNS  119 

of  God,  justice  and  mercy,  has  permeated  govern- 
ments of  the  earth,  and  the  people  of  God  can 
more  and  more  enlarge  its  blessed  dominion  and 
occupy  until  Christ  comes  for  its  perfection. 

The  present  dispensation  is  that  of  the  Spirit 
in  and  through  the  Church.  It  is  "Man's  Day," 
the  day  of  the  good  and  of  the  evil.  The  All- 
Power  of  Jesus  is  at  the  command  of  the  good. 
As  co-workers  with  the  Father,  co-witnesses  with 
the  Spirit  and  co-sufferers  with  the  Son,  they  can, 
if  they  will,  put  to  flight  the  army  of  the  aliens 
and  bring  in  the  kingdom  more  and  more.  One 
shall  chase  a  thousand,  and  two  put  ten  thousand 
to  flight. 

THE  DIVINE  IDEAL 

The  kingdom  of  God  is  the  divine  ideal,  and 
its  ultimate  establishment  the  purpose  of  God. 
This  is  the  burden  of  the  prophets,  the  song  of 
the  psalmists,  the  message  of  Jesus  and  the  apos- 
tles, and  the  vision  of  John  from  his  lonely  Pat- 
mos.  It  has  been  impending  and  depending.  On 
God's  part  all  things  have  been  ready  for  its 
consummation.  He  came  unto  His  own  and  His 
own  received  Him  not.  He  has  commanded  His 
Church  to  gather  out  the  kings  and  priests  and  to 
prepare  the  way  for  His  kingdom.  We  are  to  be 
witnesses  for  Him ;  to  use  the  Word  and  Sacra- 
ment to  bring  individuals  into  saving  relation 
with  God,  to  stand  at  all  times  and  in  all  places 
against  every  wrong  and  for  every  right,  indi- 


120     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

vidual,  social,  national  and  international,  and  to 
seek  to  realize  on  earth  what  Jesus  taught  us  to 
pray. 


} 


Hallowed  be  Thy  name ; 

Thy  kingdom  come;         }-0n  earth  as  in  heaven. 

Thy  will  be  done; 


Finally,  since  to  the  Christian  nothing  is  secu- 
lar and  all  is  sacred,  he  must  seek  to  bring  all 
things  into  God's  service.  Since  Christianity  is 
a  life  which  acts  in  harmony  with  the  divine  will, 
that  life  will  seek  to  bring  everything  with  which 
it  comes  in  contact  into  harmony  with  God :  per- 
sons, groups,  business,  politics.  It  must  over- 
come a  sinful  heredity  and  transform  an  evil 
environment.  Since  human  agency  must  co- 
operate with  God  that  His  will  may  be  done  on 
earth,  that  human  agency  must  be  God's  agent 
in  all  it  does  and  leaves  undone,  and  in  all  its 
contacts.  If  all  creation  fell  with  its  head,  then 
redemption  involves  the  bringing  of  all  that  fell 
back  to  its  primal  condition,  and  we  are  workers 
together  with  God  and  must  be  engaged  in  this 
to  the  full  extent  of  our  ability.  As  the  will  of 
God  is  expressed  in  the  decalogue  and  in  the  spe- 
cific inculcations  of  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments, and  as  these  laws  of  God  cover  every 
relation  of  Hfe,  the  Church  as  Christ's  body,  and 
Christians  as  individual  members  thereof,  are  to 


THE  SCOPE  OF  HOME  MISSIONS  121 

seek  to  have  all  things  ordered  in  harmony  with 
the  will  of  God  as  set  forth  in  those  laws.  As 
prayer  is  communion  with  God  for  personal  holi- 
ness and  power  to  do  His  will,  the  things  for 
which  it  is  our  duty  to  pray  are  the  things  which 
we  are  to  accomplish.  In  short,  the  Church  is 
set  for  the  transformation  of  the  individual,  the 
home,  society,  the  nation  and  the  world  by  the 
power  and  principles  of  Christianity,  and  to  bring 
to  bear  the  Word  of  God  upon  all  the  relations 
of  life.  When  the  Church  shall  set  forth  fully 
and  clearly  the  gracious  purpose  of  God  and  shall 
do  what  it  can  toward  its  realization,  the  wronged 
children  of  men  will  see  in  Christ  their  hope,  and 
the  oppressed  people  will  find  Him  the  Desire  of 
the  nations.  She  must  christianize  business,  so- 
ciety, education,  art,  science,  the  nation  and  the 
nations.  Christ  all  and  in  all  is  the  ideal  to  be 
realized. 


CHAPTER  VI 

America  Fundamental  to  World  Evan- 
gelization 

One  of  the  great  problems  of  our  day  is  the  problem 
of  so  releasing  in  our  lands  those  energies  of  the  Chris- 
tian faith,  in  which  we  believe,  that  they  will  make 
out  of  the  very  character  of  our  nation  an  unanswer- 
able proclamation  of  Christ  to  all  the  world  of  men. — 
Robert  E.  Speer. 

This  is  the  day  of  America's  opportunity  and 
responsibility.  God  is  not  dependent  upon  us, 
that  His  work  will  fail  if  we  fail  Him.  But  if 
we  now  fail  Him,  the  incoming  of  the  kingdom 
will  be  delayed,  whilst  He  prepares  the  nation 
which  w^ill  not  fail  Him. 

THE  QUEST  FOR  A  NATION 

The  Sacraments  individualize  the  grace  of  God, 
and  hence  God  deals  with  individuals.  The 
Word  makes  its  address  to  groups,  to  nations, 
to  the  world,  as  well  as  to  individuals,  and  so  God 
deals  with  groups,  nations  and  the  world.  We 
act  in  groups;  there  is  national  influence;  there 
is  world  trend;  and  God  would  have  us  conse- 
crate them  all  to  His  service. 

He  called  Abraham  from  Ur  of  the  Chaldees, 
not  only  that  he  might  be  saved  and  in  turn  save 
122 


FUNDAMENTAL  TO  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION     123 

Other  individuals,  but  that  he  might  be  the  father 
of  a  nation  and  in  him  and  his  seed  "all  the  na- 
tions of  the  earth"  might  be  blessed.  With  this 
nation  He  had  made  His  covenant  at  Sinai.  This 
nation  He  was  ready  to  blot  out  for  its  sins  in 
the  wilderness,  and  make  a  new  beginning  by 
constituting  Moses  and  his  seed  "a  nation  might- 
ier and  greater  than  they."  (Deut.  9:  14.)  He 
calls  Israel  *'my  people"  and  speaks  of  them  as 
"the  blessed  nation."  Not  only  will  all  men  "be 
blessed  in  Him,"  but  "all  nations  shall  call  Him 
blessed."     (Ps.  62:  11,  17.) 

It  was  in  Holy  Week,  on  the  morning  of  the 
13th  of  Nisan,  the  day  before  His  crucifixion, 
the  day  on  which  He  cursed  the  barren  fig  tree, 
typical  of  the  Jewish  nation,  the  day  He  uttered 
the  parable  of  the  vineyard,  and  met  the  various 
political  and  religious  parties  which  tried  to  en- 
tangle Him  in  His  talk;  it  was  on  this  day  that 
he  foretold  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  an- 
nounced the  rejection  of  Israel,  ''Therefore  I  say 
unto  yon,  the  kingdom  of  God  shall  be  taken 
away  from  you  and  given  to  a  nation,  bringing 
forth  the  fruits  thereof."  (Matt.  21  143. )  This 
is  a  remarkable  statement,  and  its  full  force  is 
only  beginning  to  dawn  upon  us  as  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  unfolding  God's  purpose  more  fully  in 
these  opening  years  of  the  twentieth  century  and 
in  this  era  of  solidarity.  The  nation  and  not 
the  Church  must  nationalize  and  internationalize 


124     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

the  kingdom.  The  Church  is  the  body  of  Christ 
and  is  in  order  to  the  kingdom.  She  is  the  body 
through  which  the  living  Head  speaks  and  labors 
among  individuals  and  nations  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  His  gracious  purposes.  The  king- 
dom belonged  to  Israel.  But  they  proved  un- 
worthy, and  now  it  was  to  be  *'given  to  a  nation 
bringing  forth  the  fruits  thereof." 

WESTWARD 

Jerusalem  destroyed,  Israel  scattered,  a  new 
era,  a  new  dispensation  begins.  The  faithful 
remnant  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God  made  Antioch 
the  new  missionary  center,  Paul  on  his  second 
journey  is  divinely  prevented  from  doing  any- 
thing except  to  wait  at  Troas  on  the  ^gean  Sea 
for  the  direction  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  In  the  night 
he  sees  a  vision :  A  man  of  Macedonia  standing, 
beseeching  him  and  saying,  "Come  over  into 
Macedonia  and  help  us."  Concluding  that  God 
had  called  them  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  a  new 
continent,  they  immediately  set  sail  and  reached 
Philippi,  a  city  of  Macedonia,  the  first  of  the 
district  and  a  Roman  colony.  On  the  Sabbath 
day  they  went  to  the  banks  of  the  river  where 
they  supposed  was  a  house  of  prayer,  and  there 
they  found  Lydia  and  her  household  worshiping 
God.  As  Paul  spake  unto  the  women,  the  Lord 
opened  the  heart  of  Lydia,  and  she  requested 
baptism  for  herself  and  her  house.  There  on  that 


FUNDAMENTAL  TO  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION     125 

Sabbath  day,  the  first  converts  were  made  in 
Europe ;  and  God  was  passing  through  that  con- 
tinent, as  He  has  already  through  that  of  Asia 
and  Africa,  seeking  a  nation  to  which  He  could 
entrust  leadership  of  the  Lord's  host  for  the 
establishment  of  the  kingdom.  "Westward," 
says  the  poet,  "the  star  of  empire  wends  its  way," 
and  that  because  the  feet  of  those  who  bring  glad 
tidings  and  publish  peace  have  been  the  advance 
guard.  It  is  because  the  cross  of  Jesus,  the  sym- 
bol of  victory  and  power,  has  been  going  on 
before.  To  accomplish  "the  one  increasing  pur- 
pose which  runs  through  the  ages,"  the  nations 
of  Europe  were  sifted,  and  whilst  each  contrib- 
uted something  to  the  work,  none  produced  the 
fruits  thereof.  The  story  of  their  apostasy,  their 
failure  and  inappreciation  are  read  and  known 
to  all  men.  Beyond  the  pillars  of  Hercules  and  to 
Ultima  Thule  God  searched  until  the  Atlantic 
interrupted  the  course,  and  still  found  no  nation 
to  be  entrusted  with  the  kingdom. 

A  NEW  BEGINNING,  WESTWARD  STILL 

God  had  preser\^ed  to  Himself  a  remnant  and 
had  reserved  a  continent  by  which  it  was  to  be 
peopled  and  dominated,  and  to  whom  was  to  be 
given  the  opportunity  to  evangelize  the  world. 

When  in  1453,  thirty  years  before  the  birth  of 
Luther,  the  Turks  took  Constantinople,  and  the 
crescent  displaced  the  cross,  and  the  Koran  the 


126     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

Bible,  over  the  lands  which  had  apostatized  from 
the  teachings  of  the  apostles,  it  seemed  to  be 
the  darkest  hour  of  Christendom.  But  it  was  the 
birthday  of  a  new  era.  Two  great  events,  linked 
together  in  history  and  providence,  inevitably 
followed.  They  were  the  Reformation  in  Europe, 
whose  head  was  Luther,  and  the  discovery  of 
America,  for  which  we  honor  the  daring  and 
persevering  Columbus.  They  were  the  types  and 
symbols  of  a  coming  and  a  receding  age.  Luther 
was  the  growing  boy,  the  developing  youth,  the 
coming  man,  the  representative  of  a  new  and 
better  age.  Columbus  was  an  old  man,  the  rep- 
resentative of  a  decadent  Church,  a  dying  creed 
and  a  vanishing  civilization.  And  it  was  only 
when  Luther  was  learning  lessons  at  his  mother's 
knee  and  developing  that  remarkable  mind  and 
heart  and  preparing  himself  for  his  world  mis- 
sion, that  God  permitted  Columbus  to  sail  and 
open  up  a  continent  in  which  the  principles  of  a 
revived  Christianity  were  to  have  a  growing  free- 
dom, to  bless  its  and  the  world's  inhabitants. 

The  Reformation.  When  the  persecuting 
Turks  conquered  Constantinople,  they  closed 
those  Christian  schools  which  had  been  the  light 
of  the  Middle  Ages  and  persecuted  its  professors. 
These  were  compelled  to  go  elsewhere  in  order  to 
continue  their  calling  and  earn  a  livelihood. 
Many  of  them  came  to  Germany.  They  brought 
with  them  the  lore  of  ancient  Greece  and  Rome, 


FUNDAMENTAL  TO  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION     127 

the  writings  of  the  Church  fathers  and  manu- 
script copies  of  the  sacred  Scriptures.  These 
were  translated  into  the  language  of  the  people 
and  by  means  of  the  printing  press  were  pub- 
lished and  sold  at  a  price  accessible  to  those  who 
thirsted  for  knowledge  and  panted  for  truth. 
The  revival  of  learning  began.  Schools  and  uni- 
versities sprang  up  everywhere.  The  University 
of  Erfurt  became  the  most  progressive  institu- 
tion of  Europe,  the  home  of  German  humanism. 
It  was  here  that  Luther  imbibed  those  principles 
of  civil  and  religious  liberty  and  in  its  library 
found  that  Book  divine  which  changed  his  whole 
life.  Then  followed  in  rapid  succession  his 
struggles  in  the  monastery,  his  teaching  and  in- 
vestigation in  the  University  of  Erfurt,  his  Bibli- 
cal lectures  at  the  University  of  Wittenberg,  his 
preaching  in  the  town  church,  his  ninety-five 
theses,  his  heroic  stand  at  Worms,  his  translation 
of  the  Bible,  and  the  resultant  Reformation. 

The  Discovery  of  America.  Venice  and  Genoa 
were  the  leading  commercial  cities  of  the  day. 
Genoa  carried  on  its  commerce  with  India 
through  Constantinople.  The  plundering  Turk 
robbed  the  caravans  which  were  sent  by  Genoa 
to  India  and  those  which  returned.  The  com- 
mercial prominence  of  Genoa  was  destroyed. 
Unless  a  new  route  could  be  discovered  to  India, 
it  could  not  be  revived.  Columbus,  a  native  of 
that  city,  was  deeply  concerned  and  pondered  the 


128     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

problem  of  finding  a  new  route  whereby  her  com- 
merce could  be  revived  and  enlarged.  Con- 
vinced that  he  could  succeed,  he  laid  his  plans 
before  the  city  fathers  only  to  be  rebuffed.  He 
interviews  King  John  II  of  Portugal.  He  goes 
to  England.  On  his  second  visit  he  enlists  the 
support  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  of  Spain. 
An  expedition  is  fitted  out,  and  on  the  twelfth  of 
October,  1492,  he  landed  on  the  island  of  San 
Salvador,  and  the  new  continent,  destined  to  play 
an  important  part  in  making  the  principles  of  the 
Reformtion  dominant  on  the  entire  globe,  is 
discovered. 

Luther  and  Columbus.  The  Reformation  and 
the  discovery  of  America  are  the  pivots  on  which 
the  history  of  the  modern  world  turns.  God  had 
a  purpose  in  each.  When  Luther  was  born, 
Columbus  was  at  Lisbon  pleading  with  John  II. 
When  Luther  was  nine  years  old,  laying  the 
foundations  of  his  education  and  preparing  him- 
self for  his  world  task  at  Magdeburg,  Columbus 
set  sail  for  America.  When  the  fifteen-year-old 
boy  was  earning  his  way  through  the  schools  at 
Magdeburg  and  Eisenach,  Columbus  was  on  his 
third  voyage.  When  he  was  at  the  University 
of  Erfurt,  the  navigator  was  on  his  fourth 
voyage.  When  Luther  buried  himself  in  the 
monastery  to  find  the  salvation  of  his  own  soul 
and  gain  that  experience  which  made  him  the 
irresistible  man  of  God,  Columbus  was  laid  in 


FUNDAMENTAL  TO  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION     129 

the  tomb.  W^hen  Luther  stood  before  the  Em- 
peror of  Germany  at  the  Diet  of  Worms  on  the 
i8th  day  of  April,  1521,  Cortez,  in  the  name  of 
that  same  ruler,  seized  the  capital  of  Montezuma 
in  Mexico  and  made  the  first  conquest  in  Amer- 
ica. The  work  of  Columbus  was  finished  at  his 
death,  while  that  of  Luther  goes  on  with  increas- 
ing power  and  blessing. 

THE   STRUGGLE 

The  Reformation  sweeps  over  Europe ;  and  the 
foremost  nations — Germany,  Holland,  Sweden, 
Norway,  Denmark  and  England — stand  for  prog- 
ress. On  July  26,  1 58 1,  after  a  wearisome  con- 
flict, Holland  declared  •  her  independence  from 
Spain.  In  1588,  the  invincible  Spanish  armada 
was  destroyed  by  the  wind  in  the  English  Chan- 
nel, Protestant  England  became  supreme  on  the 
ocean,  and  Catholic  Spain  never  recovered.  In 
1648,  by  the  peace  of  Westphalia,  at  the  end  of 
the  thirty  years'  war,  Germany  had  won  her  re- 
ligious freedom,  and  that  of  the  European  na- 
tions and  of  the  world. 

But  the  contest  for  supremacy  was  transferred 
to  the  New  World.  William  A.  Mowery,  in  his 
preface  to  "Colonial  Growth  of  the  United 
States,"  says,  "The  special  favor  of  divine  Provi- 
dence toward  the  country  appears  again  and  again 
in  the  course  of  our  history,  particularly  in  the 
results  of  the  old  French  and  Indian  \\'ars,  in 


130     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

the  purchase  of  Louisiana,  the  acquisition  of  New 
Mexico  and  California,  and  the  saving  of  Oregon 
from  the  grasp  of  the  EngHsh." 

On  September  13,  1759,  the  defeat  of  Mont- 
calm on  the  Plains  of  Abraham,  by  Wolfe,  was 
an  unlucky  day  for  the  Catholic  Church.  The 
French  lost  their  last  hold  on  North  America. 
By  1819,  New  Spain  had  receded  from  Florida, 
and  soon  thereafter  from  the  entire  continent. 
New  Portugal  prolonged  her  existence  a  little 
longer,  and  to-day  there  is  no  land  on  the  West- 
ern Continent,  from  the  North  to  the  South  Pole, 
dominated  by  Rome. 

The  nations  of  Europe  now  began  to  extend 
their  dominion  still  further  westward  beyond  the 
Atlantic.  There  a  nation  was  to  be  established 
which  was  to  be  dominant  on  the  Western  Conti- 
nent and  exert  a  beneficial  influence  upon  the 
nations  of  the  earth.  Paul,  from  Mars'  Hill,  an- 
nounced the  principle,  both  of  the  equality  of  all 
men  and  the  special  favor  of  God  to  the  faithful 
nations  when  he  said,  "The  God  that  made  the 
world,  and  all  things  therein,  He,  being  Lord  of 
heaven  and  earth,  dwelleth  not  in  temples  made 
with  hands,  neither  is  He  served  by  men's  hands, 
as  though  He  needed  anything,  seeing  He  Him- 
self giveth  to  all  life,  and  breath  and  all  things, 
and  He  made  of  one  every  nation  of  men  for  to 
dwell  over  all  the  face  of  the  earth,  having  deter- 
mined their  appointed  seasons,  and  the  bounds  of 


FUNDAMENTAL  TO  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION     131 

their  habitation;  that  they  should  seek  God." 
(Acts  17:24-27.)  We  shall  have  occasion  to 
refer  again  to  this  passage,  but  here  we  note  the 
"appointed  seasons"  for  the  settlement  of  the 
country  and  the  growing  extent  of  the  bounds  of 
the  habitation. 

SUCCESSION    OF    COLONIES   AND    SETTLEMENTS 

In  1607  the  first  Protestant  colony  was  planted 
by  Lord  Raleigh  in  Jamestown,  Va.  In  1620 
the  Pilgrim  Fathers  founded  Plymouth  Rock. 
In  1621  the  Dutch  Reformed,  and  among  them 
Lutherans,  settled  in  New  York,  New  Jersey  and 
Pennsylvania.  In  1634  Maryland,  and  in  1636 
Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut  were  settled.  In 
1638  the  Swedish  colony  projected  by  Gustavus 
Adolphus  was  established  in  Delaware,  New 
Jersey  and  Pennsylvania.  In  1663  the  Carolinas 
were  occupied.  In  1664  the  Duke  of  York  pre- 
sented parts  of  New  Jersey  to  Lord  Berkeley. 
In  1682  William  Penn  and  his  Quakers  came  to 
Pennsylvania.  In  1691  the  New  Hampshire  col- 
ony began.  In  1733  Oglethorpe  began  the  settle- 
ment of  Georgia. 

In  1800  the  colonies  occupied  but  a  thin  fringe 
of  territory  bordering  on  the  Atlantic.  We  fol- 
low the  providence  of  God  as  He  extends  their 
habitation  to  the  Pacific.  In  1803  President  Jef- 
ferson sent  James  Monroe  as  a  special  envoy  to 
secure  from  Napoleon  the  eastern  territory  bor- 


132     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

dering  on  the  Mississippi  down  to  the  Gulf  and 
offer  for  the  same  the  sum  of  five  milHon  dollars. 
France  was  engaged  in  war  with  England  and 
the  latter  had  sent  a  fleet  to  seize  the  Louisiana 
territory.  On  Easter  Sunday,  April  lo,  whilst 
attending  services,  Napoleon  was  troubled  over 
the  possible  disaster  to  his  possession  and  sent 
for  Robert  Livingston,  the  United  States  Min- 
ister, for  consultation.  By  this  time  James  Mon- 
roe had  arrived,  and,  contrary  to  instructions, 
the  agreement  at  fifteen  million  dollars  was 
signed  by  which  the  vast  area  now  occupied  by 
Texas,  Arkansas,  Oklahoma,  Missouri,  Kansas, 
Nebraska,  Colorado  north  of  the  Arkansas,  Wy- 
oming, Iowa,  Minnesota  west  of  the  Mississippi, 
and  Montana,  was  added  to  our  possessions.  In 
spite  of  Jefferson's  misgivings,  and  of  bitter 
partisan  opposition,  the  agreement  was  ratified 
at  a  special  session  of  Congress,  in  October.  As 
Napoleon  signed  the  treaty,  he  said,  ''Whatever 
nation  shall  hold  the  Mississippi  Valley  will  be 
the  most  powerful  nation  on  earth.  This  acces- 
sion of  territory  strengthens  forever  the  power 
of  the  United  States.  I  have  just  given  England 
a  maritime  rival  that  will  sooner  or  later  humble 
her  pride." 

In  1 8 19  we  exchanged  Texas  with  Spain  for 
Florida  and  a  strip  of  territory  stretching  across 
the  southern  end  of  Mississippi  and  Alabama 
and  her  claims  on  the  Columbia  River.     In  1836 


FUNDAMENTAL  TO  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION     133 

Texas,  then  a  province  of  Mexico  and  settled 
largely  by  Americans,  under  the  presidency  of 
Sam  Houston,  formerly  governor  of  Tennessee, 
declared  its  independence  and  asked  admission 
into  the  Union.  The  political  parties  were  di- 
vided, but  in  1845  Texas  was  admitted  by  act  of 
Congress.  Our  claim  to  the  strip  of  land  between 
the  Rio  Grande  and  Nuerces  Rivers,  three  hun- 
dred miles  long  by  fifty  to  one  hundred  wide,  in- 
volved us  in  a  war  with  Mexico.  In  an  un- 
broken series  of  victories  we  were  successful,  and 
the  war  ended  by  the  taking  of  Vera  Cruz,  March 
27,  1847.  By  the  treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo, 
signed  February  2,  1848,  Mexico,  in  addition  to 
the  above  strip,  ceded  to  the  United  States  all  the 
territory  comprising  parts  of  Colorado  and 
Wyoming,  and  all  of  Arizona,  New  Mexico, 
Utah,  Nevada  and  California. 

THE  INDIAN   APPEAL 

The  Lewis  and  Clark  exploration  and  its  con- 
tact with  the  Nez  Perces  Indians  had  awakened 
in  them  a  desire  for  the  white  man's  Book  of 
heaven.  Four  of  their  chiefs  were  sent  to  St. 
Louis  and  were  received  by  General  Clark,  the 
Suprintendent  of  Indian  Affairs  for  the  North- 
Vvcst.  They  took  them  to  the  theater,  to  the 
Roman  Catholic  churches,  and  feted  them  at  ban- 
quets. Two  of  the  chiefs  died  and  were  there 
buried.    When  they  tendered  them  a  farewell  re- 


134     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

ception,  one  of  the  chiefs  made  this  touching 
speech :  ''We  came  to  you  over  a  trail  of  many 
moons  from  the  setting  sun.  You  were  the  friend 
of  my  fathers,  who  have  all  gone  the  long  way. 
I  came  with  one  eye  partly  opened,  for  more 
light  for  my  people  who  sit  in  darkness.  I  go 
back  with  both  eyes  closed.  How  can  I  go  back 
blind  to  my  blind  people?  I  made  my  way  to 
you  with  strong  arms,  through  many  enemies  and 
strange  lands,  that  I  might  carry  back  much  to 
them.  I  go  back  with  both  arms  broken  and 
empty.  The  two  fathers  who  came  with  me — 
the  braves  of  many  winters  and  wars — we  leave 
asleep  here  by  your  great  water.  They  were 
tired  in  many  moons  and  their  mocassins  wore 
out.  My  people  sent  me  to  get  the  white  man's 
Book  of  heaven.  You  took  me  where  you  allow 
your  women  to  dance,  as  we  do  not  ours,  and  the 
Book  was  not  there.  You  took  me  where  they 
worship  the  Great  Spirit  with  candles,  and  the 
Book  was  not  there.  You  showed  me  the  images 
of  good  spirits  and  pictures  of  the  good  land 
beyond,  but  the  Book  was  not  among  them.  I 
am  going  back  the  long,  sad  trail  to  my  people 
of  the  dark  land.  You  make  my  feet  heavy  with 
the  burdens  of  gifts,  and  my  mocassins  will  grow 
old  in  carrying  them,  but  the  Book  is  not  among 
them.  When  I  tell  my  poor  blind  people,  after 
one  more  snow,  in  the  big  council,  that  I  did  not 
]>ring  the  Book,  no  word  will  be  spoken  by  our 


FUNDAMENTAL  TO  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION     135 

old  men  or  by  our  young  braves.  One  by  one 
they  will  rise  and  go  out  in  silence.  My  people 
will  die  in  darkness,  and  they  will  go  on  the  long 
path  to  the  other  hunting-grounds.  No  white 
man  will  go  with  them,  and  no  white  man's  Book, 
to  make  the  way  plain.    I  have  no  more  words." 

THE  OREGON  TERRITORY 

This  appeal  found  its  way  into  the  public 
press.  The  Methodist  Episcopal  Conference  sent 
Rev.  Jason  Lee  and  his  companion  in  1834.  In 
the  sam.e  year  the  American  Board  of  Commis- 
sioners for  Foreign  Missions  sent  Rev.  Samuel 
Parker  and  Marcus  Whitman,  M.D.  At  the 
American  headquarters  on  the  Green  River  they 
conferred  with  the  Nez  Perces  and  Flathead 
Indian  chiefs.  Whitman  returning  with  two  of 
the  Nez  Perces  boys  to  report  to  the  Board,  he 
again  journeyed  westward  accompanied  by  his 
bride  and  Rev.  H.  H.  Spaulding,  and  settled  in 
their  new  house  at  Waiilatpu,  twenty-five  miles 
from  Fort  Walla  Walla,  December  10,  1836.  The 
Oregon  territory  included  Oregon,  Washington, 
Idaho,  and  parts  of  Montana  and  W^yoming,  an 
area  thirty-two  times  as  large  as  Massachusetts. 

In  his  missionary  work  among  the  Cayuse,  Nez 
Perces  and  Flathead  Indians,  he  experienced  the 
vicious  influence  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company, 
which  "stopped  the  extension  of  civilization  and 
had  excluded  the  light  of  religious  truth."     It 


136     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

debauched  whilst  it  defrauded  the  Indian.  In 
league  with  Catholic  priests  he  saw  that  the  com- 
pany was  determined  to  place  that  territory  under 
the  permanent  control  of  Great  Britain  and  to 
put  an  end  to  the  mission. 

In  the  fall  of  1842  he  resolved  that  he  would 
return  East  (i)  to  confer  with  his  Board  con- 
cerning the  mission  and  (2)  to  save  the  territory 
to  the  United  States.  One  of  his  associates  pro- 
tested, "Brother  Whitman,  we  think  you  better 
attend  to  your  missionary  duties  and  let  politics 
alone."  To  which  he  replied,  **I  was  a  man 
before  I  was  a  missionary,  and  when  I  became 
a  missionary  I  did  not  expatriate  myself."  Octo- 
ber 3  he  started,  and  on  March  3  he  reached 
Washington  and  laid  the  burden  of  his  mission 
before  President  Tyler  and  Secretary  of  State 
Daniel  Webster.  He  returned  with  a  larger  col- 
ony, and  the  Oregon  territory,  by  the  providence 
of  God,  was  added  to  the  United  States. 

POSSESSIONS    COMPLETED 

The  discovery  of  gold  in  California  in  1848 
induced  a  large  migration  from  the  northern 
states  which  resulted  in  its  admission  as  a  state 
into  the  Union  in  1850  and  the  prevention  of  the 
extension  of  slavery  to  any  new  territory. 

When  a  dispute  arose  as  to  the  boundary  east 
of  the  Colorado  River  because  of  the  inaccur- 
acies  of   the   maps   employed   in   the   treaty   of 


FUNDAMENTAL  TO  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION     137 

Guadalupe,  a  commission  was  appointed,  and 
for  $10,000,000  we  secured  from  Mexico  in  1853 
a  section  of  land  lying  south  of  the  Gila  River, 
known  as  the  Gadsden  Purchase. 

In  1783,  by  treaty  of  peace  with  Great  Britain, 
the  boundary  of  the  United  States  was  fixed. 
In  1803  the  Louisiana  territory  was  purchased 
from  France.  In  182 1,  by  treaty  with  Spain, 
we  acquired  Florida.  In  1836  Texas  declared 
her  independence,  applied  for  admission  to  the 
United  States,  which,  after  a  long  and  bitter 
discussion,  was  accomplished  nine  years  later. 
In  1845  the  war  with  Mexico  followed  and  New 
Mexico  and  California  were  ceded.  Five  years 
afterward  we  acquired  the  Masilla  Valley.  And 
in  1867  we  secured  Alaska.  Thus  the  small  strip 
of  territory  originally  occupied  by  the  thirteen 
colonies  grew  until  it  stretched  from  coast  to 
coast. 

AND   WESTWARD   STILL   TO   WORLD   POWER 

There  appears  a  ^'manifest  destiny"  in  the  ad- 
dition of  territory  in  rapid  succession  without  a 
manifest  desire  on  the  part  of  the  nation.  We 
had  determined  and  deliberately  set  ourselves  to 
limit  our  activities  and  interests  to  this  Western 
Continent,  with  the  avowed  purpose  that  we 
should  not  be  drawn  into  any  entangling  alliances 
with  other  nations.  But  westward  still  the  star 
of  empire  forced  us  as  we  carried  the  cross  of 
power  to  the  islands  of  the  sea. 


138     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

In  1778  Captain  Cook  discovered  the 
Hawaiian  Islands.  In  the  following  year  he  was 
seized  and  killed  by  the  natives  in  a  conflict 
which  occurred  over  the  stolen  ship,  the  return 
of  which  he  demanded.  In  1809  two  Hawaiian 
boys,  Opuckahia  and  Hopu,  came  to  the  United 
States  in  an  American  vessel  and  were  placed  in 
Yale  College,  New  Haven,  to  be  educated. 
Others  followed  and  entered  the  mission  school 
at  Cornell,  Conn.  Great  interest  was  awakened, 
and  in  1819  fourteen  missionaries,  clerical  and 
lay,  accompanied  the  natives,  John  Honoree, 
Thomas  Hopu  and  William  Tennoe,  educated  at 
Cornell,  to  begin  that  remarkable  enterprise  in 
those  islands.  In  1820  the  principal  chiefs  de- 
stroyed all  their  idols  and  temples.  In  1840  the 
absolute  monarchy  became  a  constitutional  gov- 
ernment. In  1 89 1  the  last  King  Kalakaua  died 
in  San  Francisco.  Liliuokalani,  his  sister,  became 
queen,  and  the  revolution  occurred  in  1895. 
Sanford  B.  Dole,  of  American  parentage,  but  a 
native  of  the  island,  accepted  the  presidency  of 
the  Executive  Committee  of  Public  Safety.  Ap- 
plication for  annexation  was  made  to  the  United 
States.  After  many  delays,  the  House,  on  the 
15th  of  June,  1898,  and  the  Senate  on  the  6th  of 
July,  passed  the  bill  which  was  signed  by  Presi- 
dent McKinley.  On  August  12  the  sovereignty 
was  transferred  to  the  United  States  at  Hono- 
lulu with  prayer  and  thanksgiving. 


FUNDAMENTAL  TO  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION     139 

In  1897  the  people  of  the  United  States  were 
greatly  aroused  by  the  cruelties  perpetrated  upon 
the  Cubans  by  General  Weyler  in  command  of 
the  Spanish  Army.  President  McKinley,  in  his 
message  December  6,  reviewed  the  history  of  the 
island  and  our  relations  to  the  same.  On  Janu- 
ary 24,  1898,  the  ''Maine"  was  sent  on  a  friendly 
visit  to  Cuban  waters  and  was  destroyed  on  Feb- 
ruary 15.  April  19  Congress  demanded  that 
Cuba  should  be  free,  that  the  Spanish  Govern- 
ment relinquish  all  claims,  that  the  President  be 
empowered  to  use  all  naval  and  land  forces  for 
the  above  purpose,  and  that  we  disclaim  any  in- 
tention of  exercising  any  control  beyond  the  paci- 
fication of  the  island.  On  April  21  Spain  de- 
clared war  on  the  United  States.  The  Spanish 
fleets  at  Manila  on  May  i,  and  in  Santiago  Har- 
bor July  3,  were  destroyed,  and  the  island  of 
Guam  was  captured  June  21.  The  treaty  of 
peace,  concluded  December  10,  provides: 

1.  Spain  relinquishes  all  claim  and  sovereignty 
over  and  title  to  Cuba. 

2.  Spain  cedes  to  the  United  States  the  island 
of  Porto  Rico  and  the  other  islands  now  under 
Spanish  sovereignty  in  the  West  Indies,  and  the 
island  of  Guam  in  the  Marimos  or  Ladrones. 

3.  Spain  cedes  to  the  United  States  the  archi- 
pelago known  as  the  Philippine  Islands.  The 
United  States  will  pay  the  sum  of  $20,000,000 
within  three  months  after  the  exchange  of  the 


140     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

ratifications  of  the  present  treaties.  Formal 
ratifications  were  exchanged  April  ii,  1898. 
Thus  Porto  Rico,  Ponce,  Guam  and  the  Philip- 
pines were  added  to  our  possessions. 

We  have  outlined  at  some  length  the  growth 
of  our  territory  in  order  that  from  our  "national 
base"  we  might  catch  a  glimpse  of  our  world 
mission.  You  could  lay  down  all  the  great  and 
influential  kingdoms  of  the  world,  such  as  Ger- 
many, Great  Britain,  France  and  Japan,  almost 
twice  on  our  territory  east  of  the  Mississippi. 
Holland,  Belgium,  Switzerland,  Palestine, 
France,  Germany,  Denmark,  Bulgaria  and 
European  Turkey,  Roumania,  Cuba,  Jamaica 
and  Spain  do  not  cover  a  territory  equal  to  that 
we  occupy  east  of  the  Father  of  Waters.  On  our 
territory  west  of  that  stream  you  could  lay  down 
Greece  and  Australia,  Great  Britain  and  Italy, 
Japan  and  the  sixteen  provinces  of  China.  God 
has  made  the  bounds  of  our  habitation  large  for 
a  large  mission. 

god's  intentions  are  larger 
When  Seward  was  Secretary  of  State,  his 
aversion  to  England  for  the  wrongs  she  had  com- 
mitted during  the  Civil  War  prevented  him  from 
exercising  the  same  wisdom  he  did  in  the  matter 
of  Alaska.  Says  Albert  Shaw :  "The  British 
Government,  in  token  of  goodwill  and  to  repair 
all  the  errors  of  the  past,  had  offered  to  us  its 


FUNDAMENTAL  TO  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION     141 


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142     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

great  territory  of  the  Northwest  (from  Ontario 
to  the  Pacific),  which  would  have  added  almost 
as  much  to  our  dominion  as  the  entire  extent  of 
the  United  States."  God  had  placed  it  within 
our  reach ;  the  narrowness  and  prejudice  of  an 
otherwise  great  man  prevented  its  possession. 

COMPARISON  AND  CONTRAST 

When  Karl  Von  Ritter  was  writing  his  work 
on  Comparative  Geography,  he  was  struck  by 
the  remarkable  difference  between  the  configura- 
tion of  the  continents  of  Europe,  Asia,  and  that 
of  America.  He  was  convinced  that  God  in  the 
creation  of  the  world  had  fixed  the  bounds  of 
habitation  for  each  nation,  making  them  large 
or  small  according  to  the  fidelity  and  wisdom 
with  which  they  set  to  the  fulfillment  of  their 
God-given  task.  In  many  cases  they  entered  not 
into  that  fullness  of  their  possible  possessions 
because  of  unbelief.  He  realized  that  rivers  and 
mountains  were  the  natural  boundaries  which 
separate  nations  and  form  the  area  in  which  they 
fulfill  -their  destiny.  He  saw  that  the  mountains 
of  Europe  and  Asia  run  along  the  parallels  of 
latitude,  east  and  west,  leaving  small  valleys  in 
between  and  by  the  direction  of  their  streams 
enclosing  a  national  area  of  a  single  temperature. 
He  concluded  that  God  intended  these  continents 
to  be  the  home  of  small  tribes  and  nations,  which 
in  their  individual  isolation  were  to  develop  their 


FUNDAMENTAL  TO  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION     143 

own  national  peculiarities  as  a  contribution  to  the 
world  at  large.     But  the  mountains  of  America 
run  along  the  meridians  of  longitude,  north  and 
south,  from  the  North  to  the  South  Pole,  giving 
ready  access  to  its  inhabitants  to  all  the  climates, 
to  the  products  of  all  the  zones,  enabling  them 
to  go  without  let  or  hindrance  from  the  farthest 
north  to  the  farthest  south,  and  he  concluded  that 
God  intended  America  to  become  the  home  of  a 
great  people  and  hence  made  the  bounds  of  their 
habitation   large.   Therefore   the   significance  of 
the  expansion  of  our  nation  from  the  Atlantic  to 
the  Pacific  over  all  the  mountains  and  into  all  the 
valleys  from  which  they  could  extend  their  do- 
minion from  the  North  to  the  South  Pole  over 
the  entire   Western   Continent.     Our   statesmen 
had  not  planned,  but  were  thrust  into,  the  pur- 
chase of  the  Louisiana  territory.     By  the  acci- 
dent of  war  we  first  reached  the  Pacific  through 
California,  and  by  the  devotion  of  Marcus  Whit- 
man for  the  spread  of  the  kingdom  we  extended 
our  dominion  to  the  same  highway  through  the 
Oregon  territory.     This  gives  our  nation  ready 
access  to  the  products  of  all  the  climates,  enabling 
us  to  live  self-contained  within  ourselves,  in  pos- 
session of  all  the  necessities  and  even  luxuries 
of  earth,  though  surrounded  by  all  the  nations  of 
the  world.     Our  expanding  territory  and  grow- 
ing  mission   constrained   the   enactment   of   the 
Monroe  Doctrine,  which  forced  us  into  the  pro- 


144     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

tection  of  the  rights  of  all  nations  on  this  conti- 
nent. The  unselfish  war  of  1898,  by  which  we 
offered  up  our  treasure  and  best  blood  to  give 
Cuba  independence,  and  started  Porto  Rico  and 
the  Philippines  on  the  way  to  self-government, 
thrust  us  into  world  politjcs.  We  placed  our  first 
outpost  in  the  Hawaiian  Islands  and  our  second 
at  the  gate  of  the  ancient  nations  in  the  East.  As 
this  necessitated  the  project  of  the  Panama  Canal, 
by  which,  "The  land  divided — the  world  united," 
we  were  brought  into  more  intimate  relation  to 
the  peoples  of  the  southern  part  of  this  continent 
and  of  the  world. 


CHAPTER  VII 

America  and  World  Evangelization 

He  does  most  to  hasten  the  coming  of  the  kingdom 
who  does  most  to  make  America  thoroughly  Christian. 
I  do  not  say  that  God  loves  an  American  more  than  He 
loves  an  African  or  a  Mongolian ;  I  do  not  say,  save 
America  for  America's  sake;  but  I  do  say,  save 
America  for  the  world's  sake. — Josiah  Strong. 

THE    MESSIANIC    NATION 

Isaiah,  in  the  fifty-fifth  chapter  and  the  fifth 
verse,  addresses  the  Messiah  in  these  words: 
"Behold,  Thou  shalt  call  a  nation  that  Thou 
knowest  not,  and  a  nation  that  knew  not  Thee 
shall  run  unto  Thee  because  of  the  Lord  Thy 
God  and  for  the  Holy  One  of  Israel;  for  He 
hath  glorified  Thee."  The  Hebrew  verb,  trans- 
lated "know,"  means  more  than  intellectual 
knowledge  or  acquaintance.  It  signifies  such  an 
intimacy  as  results  in  intercourse,  communion 
and  fellowship.  The  Messiah  was  to  call  a  na- 
tion with  which  He  had  had  no  fellowship,  com- 
munion or  intercourse,  because  it  was  not  in  ex- 
istence; and  through  this  nation,  other  nations 
which  had  no  connection  with  Christ  were  to  be 
brought  to  Him.  The  Christ  had  foreseen  Is- 
rael's fall,  the  failure  of  the  nations  of  Asia, 
145 


146     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

Africa  and  Europe  to  measure  up  to  the  trust  of 
world  evangelization.  Each  in  turn  had  made 
their  contribution,  and  each  was  to  make  subse- 
quent contributions,  but  all  of  them  were  wanting 
in  elements  needed  for  the  sublime  task.  So  God 
waited,  as  He  was  constrained  to  wait,  until  the 
de-formed  Church  was  re-formed  according  to 
the  apostolic  pattern,  until  the  Reformation  had 
given  Christianity  its  new  freedom  and  America 
had  been  opened  as  a  virgin  soil  on  which  to 
develop  a  nation,  through  which  He  might  ac- 
complish His  blessed  purpose  in  the  world. 

THE   TIME  OF   SETTLEMENT 

God  had  "determined  the  appointed  seasons" 
for  the  populating  of  this  continent,  for  the  rise 
of  our  nation  and  for  the  "bounds  of  its  habita- 
tion." 

We  have  already  seen  the  providential  connec- 
tion between  the  Reformation  in  Europe  and  the 
discovery  of  America.  The  history  of  the  nations 
of  the  continent  demonstrates,  like  those  of  Asia 
and  Africa,  that  their  response  to  the  call  of  God 
was  not  such  as  to  warrant  the  trust  of  leader- 
ship to  any  of  them.  They  had  among  them 
great  and  noble  spirits,  whose  principles,  drawn 
from  the  divine  Word,  raised  their  nations  to  a 
higher  stage  of  civilization,  but  which  needed  to 
come  to  ever-increasing  fullness  and  fruition 
under     new     and     unhampered     surroundings. 


AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION    147 

Mightily  they  wrought  and  strongly  God  moved 
to  thwart  the  purposes  of  the  nations  which  per- 
secuted the  faith  and  raised  up  those  which  re- 
ceived it,  all  in  order  that  it  might  have  a  new 
beginning  in  a  new  continent  to  send  back  its 
blessings  to  the  old.  For  this  reason  the  Refor- 
mation was  triumphant  in  Germany,  in  the  Neth- 
erlands, in  all  Scandinavia  and  in  England.  For 
this  reason  the  invincible  Armada  w^as  destroyed 
in  the  English  Channel,  the  power  of  Catholic 
Spain  was  broken,  and  Protestant  England  be- 
came the  great  maritime  power  of  the  world. 
For  this  reason  none  of  the  Catholic  nations  of 
Europe  ever  gained  a  strong  foothold  north  of 
the  Rio  Grande,  and  what  they  gained  they  were 
subsequently  constrained  to  surrender.  And  for 
this  reason  all  the  nations  of  Europe  who  had 
persecuted  the  ''Way"  lost  every  inch  of  terri- 
tory they  possessed  even  to  the  south  of  the  Rio 
Grande,  For  this  reason  New  Spain  and  New 
France  disappeared,  and  New  England,  New 
Netherlands,  New  Sweden  and  the  other  col- 
onies and  colonists  were  merged  into  the  new 
nation. 

SIGNIFICANCE   OF   THE   TIME   OF   SETTLEMENT 

Without  a  knowledge  of  the  above  facts,  it 
would  be  inexplicable  that  an  all-wise  God  should 
have  permitted  this,  the  richest  of  all  continents, 
the  best-located   for  world  influence,  to  remain 


148     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

unknown  and  uninhabited,  except  by  a  few  sav- 
ages, from  the  days  of  creation  to  those  of  the 
Reformation.  Why  should  its  settlement  begin 
in  those  days  and  not  before?  If  America  had 
been  settled  in  the  year  looo,  when  the  Norse- 
men brought  back  tidings  of  a  new  world,  it 
would  have  been  settled  by  persecuting  Roman 
Catholics.  Rome  would  have  been  intrenched 
on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  and  the  Reforma- 
tion would  have  been  strangled  in  its  birth. 
Hence  God  waited  492  years  longer,  until  Martin 
Luther  was  nine  years  old,  before  He  permitted 
a  Columbus  to  sail.  He  waited  until  the  Refor- 
mation had  developed  and  then  opened  up  in  the 
northern  temperate  zone,  the  zone  of  power,  an 
asylum  for  all  the  oppressed  and  persecuted. 
God  had  a  prepared  land  on  the  western  slope  of 
the  Atlantic  in  the  year  1000  and  before,  but  He 
did  not  have  a  prepared  people  to  occupy  it,  and 
had  no  one  to  prepare  them  until  Luther  was 
born.  Then,  too,  God  saw  how  impossible  it  was 
for  the  pure  principles  of  the  Reformation  to 
make  much  headway  against  the  incrusted  medi- 
evalism of  the  Old  World,  and  hence  He  opened 
up  the  New.  Here  was  a  virgin  soil  in  which 
the  seed  of  the  kingdom  could  be  sown  and  grow 
to  bring  forth  rich  fruit  for  the  homelands  and 
for  the  whole  world.  Here  v»'as  to  grow  up  a 
free  Church,  undominated  by  a  corrupt  state,  a 
Church  which  in  turn  was  to  develop  a  free  state 


AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION    149 

which  would  shed  its  beneficent  influence  upon 
all  nations.  Here  a  nation  was  to  grow  strong 
because  it  had  laid  at  the  foundation  and  woven 
into  its  entire  structure  the  fundamental  princi- 
ples of  the  Bible  as  brought  to  light  by  the  Ref- 
ormation. In  turn  it  has  touched  with  its  hal- 
lowed fire  the  nations  whose  emigrants  it  wel- 
comed. 

SOME   TESTIMONIALS 

Nearly  two  hundred  years  ago  Bishop  Berkeley 
wrote : 

"Westward  the  course  of  empire  takes  its  way; 
The  first  four  acts  already  past,  . 
A  fifth  shall  close  the  drama  with  the  day; 
Time's  noblest  offspring  is  its  last." 

John  Adams,  in  his  reminiscences,  says: 
"Nothing  is  more  ancient  in  my  memory  than 
the  observation  that  arts,  sciences  and  empire 
have  traveled  westward,  and  in  conversation  it 
was  always  added  that  their  next  leap  would  be 
over  the  Atlantic  into  America." 

De  Torqueville  saw  here  the  home  of  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  million  happy  people,  ''equal  to- 
gether, who  will  all  belong  to  the  same  family, 
who  will  have  the  same  point  of  departure,  the 
same  civilization,  the  same  language,  the  same 
religion,  the  same  habits,  the  same  manners,  and 
over  which  thought  will  circulate  in  the  same 
form    and    paint    itself    in    the    same    colors." 


150     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

Chevalier,  writing  in  1867,  declared:  "History 
shows  that  the  civilization  on  vvhich  we  depend 
is  subject  to  a  general  law  which  makes  it  jour- 
ney by  halts,  in  the  manner  of  armies,  in  the 
direction  of  the  Occident,  making  the  scepter  pass 
successively  into  the  hands  of  nations  more 
worthy  to  hold  it,  more  strong  and  more  able  to 
employ  it  for  the  general  good.  So  it  seems  that 
the  supreme  authority  is  about  to  escape  from 
Western  and  Central  Europe  to  pass  to  the  New- 
World."  Emilio  Castelar,  addressing  the  Span- 
ish Cortes  in  1871,  spoke  of  America  as  the  conti- 
nent of  the  future,  stretched  by  God  between  the 
Atlantic  and  the  Pacific,  where  mankind  may 
plant,  essay  and  resolve  all  social  problems.  Vis- 
count Bryce  voiced  the  opinion  that  we  have 
before  us  as  a  nation  untold  ages  for  the  enjoy- 
ment of  conditions  far  more  auspicious  than  any 
European  country  can  count  upon.  "And  that 
America  marks  the  highest  level,"  he  says,  "not 
only  of  material  well-being,  but  of  intelligence 
and  happiness,  which  the  race  has  yet  attained, 
will  be  the  judgment  of  those  who  look  not  at 
the  favored  few  for  whose  benefit  the  world 
seems  hitherto  to  have  framed  its  institutions, 
but  at  the  whole  body  of  the  people." 

THE   PURPOSE   OF   T?IE   SETTLERS 

The  people  who  first  came  to  this  continent 
and  the  object  for  which  they  settled  it,  reveal 


AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION    151 

God's  providence  no  less  than  the  time  of  its 
occurrence.  They  came  to  establish  God's  king- 
dom. This  stands  without  a  parallel  upon  the 
pages  of  history.  True,  Paul  and  his  companions 
crossed  the  yEgean  Sea  and  preached  the  Gospel 
in  Europe  in  order  to  win  the  continent  for 
Christ.  They  did  not,  however,  colonize  Europe 
for  the  purpose.  They  were  but  transitory  mis- 
sionaries of  the  cross.  They  were  not  accom- 
panied or  followed  by  colony  after  colony  who 
colonized  Europe  for  the  purpose  of  setting  up 
and  extending  the  kingdom  of  God.  Such,  how- 
ever, was  the  avowed  purpose  and  the  active 
propaganda  of  all  the  colonies  established  in 
America  from  north  to  south,  from  east  to  west. 
Isabella  sent  Columbus  that  "she  might  emi- 
nently contribute  to  diffuse  the  light  and  truth 
of  the  Gospel."  Columbus  said,  "God  made  me 
a  messenger  of  the  new  heavens  and  new  earth," 
and  he  consecrated  the  land  to  the  cross.  In  the 
charter  of  the  Virginia  Colony,  given  by  King 
James  I,  was  written,  "We,  greatly  commending 
and  graciously  accepting  of  thine  desire  for  the 
furtherance  of  so  noble  a  work,  which  may,  by 
the  providence  of  Almighty  God,  hereafter  tend 
to  the  glory  of  His  Divine  Majesty,  on  propa- 
gating of  the  Christian  religion  to  such  people 
as  yet  live  in  darkness."  In  the  New  England 
charter  of  1620  was  written,  "And  last  because 
the  principal  effect,  which  we  can  desire  or  ex- 


152    AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

pect  of  this  action,  is  the  conversion  and  reduc- 
tion of  the  people  of  those  parts  to  the  true  wor- 
ship of  God  and  the  Christian  reHgion."  When 
the  Pilgrim  Fathers  marched  down  the  slopes  of 
Leyden  to  embark  for  the  New  World,  Rev.  Mr. 
Robinson  read  these  significant  words :  "Now 
Jehovah  said  unto  Abram,  Get  thee  out  of  thy 
country,  and  from  thy  kindred,  and  from  thy 
fathers'  house,  unto  the  land  that  I  will  show 
thee :  and  I  will  make  of  thee  a  great  nation,  and 
I  will  bless  thee  and  make  thy  name  great;  and 
be  thou  a  blessing:  and  I  will  bless  them  that 
bless  thee,  and  him  that  curseth  thee  will  I  curse ; 
and  in  thee  shall  all  the  families  of  the  earth  be 
blessed."     (Gen.  12:1-3.) 

The  colony  at  New  Amsterdam  in  162 1  had  a 
similar  purpose.  The  Massachusetts  colony  in 
1628  sought  to  "win  and  incite  the  natives  of 
that  country  with  knowledge  and  obedience  of 
the  only  true  God  and  Saviour  of  mankind  and 
the  Christian  faith,  which  is  the  principal  end  of 
this  plantation."  The  Maryland  charter  of  1632 
declares  that  "Cecil  Calvert  was  animated  with  a 
laudable  and  pious  zeal  for  extending  the  Chris- 
tian religion."  The  citizens  of  the  Connecticut 
government  associated  themselves  in  1638  "to 
maintain  and  preserve  the  liberty  and  purity  of 
the  Gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  The 
colony  of  New  Sweden,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Delaware,   founded  in   1638,  began   the   spread- 


AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION    153 

ing  of  the  Gospel  among  the  Indians,  and 
granted  rehgious  tolerance  to  early  settlers 
and  promised  peace  and  liberty  to  the  people. 
Roger  Williams  established  the  colony  in  Rhode 
Island  for  a  similar  purpose.  The  Quakers 
in  the  colony  of  Pennsylvania  made  this  their 
motto:  *'We  lay  a  foundation  for  after  ages  to 
understand  their  liberty  as  Christians  and  as 
men."  Charles  II  stated  in  the  Carolina  charter 
that  the  applicants  had  been  "excited  with  a  laud- 
able and  pious  zeal  for  the  propagation  of  the 
Christian  faith."  The  Georgia  charter,  granted 
to  Oglethorpe  and  his  Lutheran  and  Moravian 
colonists,  who  had  escaped  from  persecutions  of 
the  Old  World,  was  "for  the  purpose  of  freedom 
of  worship  and  the  spread  of  the  Gospel."  Bar- 
row says  of  Whitman  and  Spalding  and  their 
missionary  band,  as  they  occupied  the  Oregon 
territory :  "Then,  spreading  their  blankets  and 
lifting  the  American  flag,  they  all  kneeled  around 
the  Book,  and  with  prayer  and  praise  took  pos- 
session of  the  western  side  of  the  continent  for 
Christ  and  the  Church." 

Thus  from  east  to  west,  from  north  to  south, 
the  people  who  colonized  the  territory  occupied 
by  the  United  States  of  America,  consecrated  it 
to  the  service  of  Jehovah.  This  is  as  significant 
as  it  is  singular  and  unexampled.  Here  God 
found  the  foundation  for  the  nation,  to  which, 
above  all  nations.  He  could  entrust  the  extension 


154     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

of  His  kingdom.  Will  our  nation  fail  Him? 
God  grant  that  she  may  bring  forth  the  fruits 
of  the  kingdom ! 

I.    THE   FREE  CHURCH 

The  Church  and  churches  were  first  to  be 
formed,  and  out  of  them  were  to  grow  the  states 
and  the  nation.  The  great  Reformer  and  his 
enlightened  associates  in  Europe  had  desired  a 
free  Church  and  a  free  state  in  harmony  with 
the  principles  of  our  holy  religion.  They  had 
recognized  the  province  of  each  as  co-ordinate 
institutions,  equally  divine  and  equally  respons- 
ible to  God  to  work  in  harmony  with  His  will 
as  expressed  in  His  Word.  They  were  con- 
vinced it  was  not  by  might  nor  by  power,  but  by 
the  operation  of  His  Spirit  working  through 
Word  and  Sacrament,  and,  by  the  co-witnessing 
ot  the  two  faithful  witnesses,  that  the  work 
would  be  crowned  with  success.  They  knew  that 
the  oppression  of  rulers  and  the  wrongs  suffered 
by  the  people  would  cease  as  the  principles  of 
revived  Christianity,  so  generally  acknowledged, 
would  be  inwoven  with  the  woof  and  warp  of 
social  and  political  institutions.  But  rash  spirits, 
unwilling  to  bear  their  wrongs  in  the  sublime 
confidence  of  approaching  deliverance,  perverted 
the  movement  from  the  sword  of  the  Spirit  to 
the  sword  of  slaughter.  It  changed  from  moral 
to  physical  force,  from  the  unity  of  the  Spirit 


AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATIOX    155 

to  sectarian  divisions,  from  universal  emancipa- 
tion to  universal  repression.  Then  Romanism  re- 
gained much  of  its  loss. 

The  Church  in  Europe  was  united  with  and 
subsidized  by  the  state,  and  the  Reformation 
principles  never  reached  their  full  development. 
Hence  the  earnest  souls  who  would  not  bear  civil 
and  ecclesiastical  repression,  migrated  to  the  new 
continent  to  make  a  new  beginning.  Even  here 
the  first  efforts  were  failures.  The  early  colonies 
slowly  advanced  beyond  the  European  models. 
In  New  York,  Massachusetts,  Maryland,  Vir- 
ginia and  elsewhere  there  was  at  first  a  union 
between  Church  and  state,  but  the  Church  rather 
than  the  state  always  proved  the  dominant  fac- 
tor. Rhode  Island  and  Pennsylvania  blazed  the 
V.  ay  for  their  separate  and  yet  co-operative  ex- 
istence. Hence  both  Church  and  state  have  here 
attained  their  highest  development.  Here  all 
denominations,  whether  Protestant  or  Catholic, 
are  truest  to  their  historic  teachings,  purest  in 
the  lives  of  their  members,  and  most  energetic 
in  the  prosecution  of  the  work  of  the  Lord. 

THE  FREE  NATION 

A  free  Church  was  exerting  its  influence  for 
more  than  a  century  before  the  occasion  was 
furnished  to  interject  into  our  national  life  the 
principles  and  practices  of  the  Church.  People 
who  had  shed  the  ecclesiastical  tyranny  of  the 


156     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

Old  World  were  being  prepared  to  throw  off  also 
its  political  oppressions.  The  adoption  of  their 
own  constitution  and  by-laws  in  the  ecclesiastical 
sphere,  the  untrammeled  election  of  their  own 
leaders,  and  the  unsupervised  conduct  of  their 
own  affairs,  made  the  transition  to  political  inde- 
pendence a  logical  sequence. 

De  Torqueville  says,  in  "The  Pioneers  of 
Pioneers" :  "They  brought  with  them  a  form 
of  Christianity  which  I  cannot  better  describe 
than  by  styling  it  a  democratic  and  republic  re- 
ligion. They  contributed  powerfully  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  democracy  and  a  republic,  and  from 
the  earliest  settlements  of  the  emigrants  politics 
and  religion  contracted  an  alliance  that  has  never 
been  dissolved." 

Thus  the  principles  of  the  Church  were  trans- 
ferred and  incorporated  into  the  constitutions 
of  the  states  and  the  United  States.  Thomas 
Jefferson  was  not  the  first  to  discover  or  proclaim 
the  doctrine  that  all  men  are  born  free  and  equal 
and  are  endowed  by  their  Creator  with  certain 
natural  and  inalienable  rights.  It  is  written  in 
the  very  opening  book  of  Revelation,  and  fixed 
by  the  creation  of  man  in  the  image  of  God. 
Paul  taught  it  in  his  address  on  Mars'  Hill.  It 
oozes  out  of  every  page  of  the  Bible  and  is  in- 
woven with  every  act  of  God.  Luther  reasserted 
and  defended  it  in  the  doctrine  of  the  priesthood 
of  believers:  every  man  without  an  intervening 


AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION    157 

or  interposing  priest  can  come  to  God  through 
Christ.  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons.  No  man 
can  deprive  his  fellow-man  of  any  rights  or  privi- 
leges before  Him  or  receive  favors  which  are 
not  accessible  to  all  and  on  the  same  terms.  All 
are  equal  before  Him,  and  hence  equal  before 
each  other.  The  principles  of  Christianity,  as 
reasserted  by  Protestantism,  shaped  our  politi- 
cal character.  No  priest  can  interfere  w^ith  the 
rights  of  the  believer's  citizenship  in  heaven,  and 
no  royalty  with  a  man's  citizenship  on  earth. 
Henry  Ward  Beecher  said:  "Our  civil  liberty 
is  the  result  of  the  open  Bible  which  Luther  gave 
us."  At  the  dedication  of  the  Bunker  Hill  Monu- 
ment, June  17,  1843,  Daniel  Webster  said:  "The 
Reformation  of  Luther  introduced  the  principles 
of  civil  liberty  into  the  wilderness  of  America." 
George  Bancroft  says :  "Our  national  organiza- 
tion counts  Christianity  among  its  sources ;  it  was 
essentially  imbibed  into  the  spirit  of  the  Refor- 
mation which  rose  in  Germany  w^ith  Luther." 

NATIONAL    CHARACTER 

Justice  Brewer,  of  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court,  said  some  years  ago :  "Every  constitution 
of  the  (then)  forty- five  states  contains  language 
which  either  directly  or  by  clear  implication  rec- 
ognizes a  profound  reverence  for  religion  and  an 
assumption  that  its  influence  in  all  human  affairs 
is  essential  to  the  well-being  of  the  community. 


158     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

All  our  state  and  national  legislatures  begin  their 
daily  sessions  with  prayer  for  divine  guidance." 
This  does  not  mean  that  all  our  acts  are  in  har- 
mony with  the  divine  will,  but  indicates  how  God 
has  inwoven  His  purpose  with  our  political  fab- 
ric, and  it  is  an  incentive  to  every  Christian 
patriot  to  have  our  nation  set  itself  consciously 
to  fulfill  that  purpose.  Washington,  who,  in  our 
first  great  crisis,  was  on  his  knees  at  Valley  Forge 
when  our  liberty  was  at  stake,  said :  '*No  people 
can  be  found  to  acknowledge  and  adore  that  in- 
visible hand  which  conducts  the  affairs  of  men 
more  than  the  people  of  the  United  States ;  every 
step  by  which  they  have  advanced  to  the  char- 
acter of  an  independent  nation  seems  to  have  been 
indicated  by  some  token  of  providential  agency." 
At  the  opening  of  the  Constitutional  Convention, 
when  the  question  was  raised  as  to  whether  the 
Convention  should  be  opened  with  prayer,  Frank- 
lin said:  "In  the  beginning  of  the  contest  with 
Great  Britain,  when  we  were  sensible  of  danger, 
we  had  daily  prayer  in  this  room  for  the  divine 
protection.  Our  prayers,  sir,  were  heard,  and 
they  were  graciously  answered.  All  of  us  who 
were  engaged  in  the  struggle  must  have  observed 
frequent  instances  of  a  superintending  providence 
in  our  favor.  To  that  kind  Providence  we  owe 
this  happy  opportunity  of  consulting  in  peace  on 
the  means  of  establishing  our  future  national 
felicity,  and  have  we  now  forgotten  that  better 


AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION    159 

Friend,  or  do  we  imagine  we  no  longer  need  His 
assistance?  I  have  lived,  sir,  a  long  time,  and 
the  longer  I  live  the  more  convincing  proofs  I 
see  of  this  truth,  that  God  governs  in  the  affairs 
of  men."  On  our  Liberty  Bell  there  is  inscribed 
God's  proclamation  to  Israel,  "Proclaim  liberty 
throughout  all  the  land,  unto  all  the  inhabitants 
thereof."-  Emerson  declared,  "Our  whole  his- 
tory appears  like  a  last  effort  of  divine  Provi- 
dence in  behalf  of  the  human  race."  Abraham 
Lincoln,  vvho  in  the  dark  days  of  our  Civil  War 
had  sought  God  and  received  answer,  said  in  his 
inaugural  address,  March  i6,  1861 :  "Intelli- 
gence, patriotism,  Christianity  and  a  firm  reliance 
upon  Him  who  has  never  forsaken  this  favored 
land  are  the  best  ways  out  of  our  present  diffi- 
culties." President  Wilson  led  his  cabinet  in 
prayer  to  God  for  safe  guidance  in  this  world 
crisis.  \\'hen  the  decisive  hour  came,  we  rose 
above  all  selfish  interest,  and  entered  the  conflict, 
demanding  justice  for  all  and  injustice  to  none. 
At  every  great  crisis  of  our  history  God  led  us 
to  select  the  man  of  His  choice. 

THE  FIRST  NATION  ON  THIS  CONTINENT 

The  United  States  is  the  first  nation  in  time 
and  influence  on  this  Western  Hemisphere.  The 
principles  of  liberty  inwoven  in  the  religious 
character  of  the  colonists  drew  them  into  a  body 
politic   when   conditions   called   those   principles 


160     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

into  action.  It  was,  from  the  day  of  the  declara- 
tion of  its  independence  and  for  a  half  century 
thereafter,  the  only  independent  nation.  To  the 
south  from  the  Rio  Grande  to  the  South  Pole  the 
peoples  on  the  mainland  and  the  isles  of  the  sea 
were  dominated  by  European  nations.  Canada, 
our  neighbor  to  the  north,  nobly  co-operating 
with  us  in  the  advancement  of  the  kingdom,  was 
and  is  still  a  dependency  of  Great  Britain.  When 
we  review  the  Reformation  and  the  discovery  of 
America,  the  religious  character  of  the  colonists 
in  the  north,  and  that  of  the  colonists  in  the 
south,  it  is  but  natural  that  we  should  form  the 
first  nation  on  this  continent. 

ITS   CONSTITUTION   AND  ARBITRATION   TRIBUNAL 

Incrusted  European  injustice  forced  the  colo- 
nies to  assert  the  negative  principles  on  the  politi- 
cal sphere  which  they  had  learned  and  practiced 
in  the  religious ;  and  the  selfishness  which  burst 
forth  spontaneously  among  themselves  con- 
strained them  to  formulate  the  positive  principles 
for  their  harmonious  development  and  for  peace- 
ful intercourse  with  the  nations  of  the  earth. 
"The  Articles  of  Confederation"  were  sufficient 
to  hold  them  together  whilst  danger  threatened 
from  without.  When  the  pressure  was  removed, 
they  were  threatened  with  disintegration  into  the 
original  elements  out  of  which  they  were  consti- 
tuted.    Pennsylvania  and  Connecticut  came  to 


AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION    161 

blows  over  the  W^yoming  \"alley,  and  New  York 
and  New  Hampshire  quarreled  over  the  territory 
of  Vermont.  There  was  weakness  and  disorgan- 
ization at  home  and  abroad.  It  was  then  that 
the  Constitutional  Convention  held  its  first  ses- 
sion on  May  25,  1787.  It  distinguished  between 
freedom  and  coercion,  liberty  and  license,  state 
rights  and  national  sovereignty.  Gladstone  pro- 
nounced our  Constitution  *'the  greatest  work  ever 
struck  off  at  a  given  time  by  the  mind  and  pur- 
pose of  man." 

The  most  far-reaching  element  in  that  Consti- 
tution was  the  establishment  of  the  Supreme 
Court  as  a  court  of  arbitration  to  adjudicate  the 
rights,  first  of  the  thirteen  colonies,  and  then  of 
the  steadily  increasing  states  and  territories  of 
our  Union.  It  is  now  the  tribunal  of  arbitration 
between  all  the  states  and  to  its  decision  all 
submit,  and  from  it  there  is  no  appeal.  It  then 
slopped,  and  has  since  prevented  bloodshed  be- 
tween the  component  parts  of  the  Union  as  well 
as  between  us  and  other  nations.  When,  in  1816, 
a  difference  arose  between  England  and  the 
United  States  concerning  the  boundaries  of  the 
Lakes  and  the  St.  Croix  River,  we  settled  it,  just 
as  we  settle  differences  among  our  citizens  and 
states,  by  the  peaceful  method  of  arbitration. 
From  1 816  to  1890  no  less  than  eight  different 
disputes  were  thus  settled  between  these  two  na- 
tions.     In    i860,   and   again   in    1890,    Congress 


162     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

called  upon  the  civilized  world  to  settle  their 
differences  by  arbitration,  and,  if  possible,  with- 
out war.  In  the  latter  year,  at  our  call,  nineteen 
American  republics  met  in  Washington  and 
unanimously  resolved  that  they  would  in  this  way 
adjudicate  all  differences  except  such  as  might 
imperil  their  national  existence.  We  have  been 
the  most  ardent  supporters  of  the  Hague  tribunal 
and  have  continually  stood  for  the  enlargement 
of  the  powers  of  an  international  tribunal  of 
arbitration,  so  as  to  eliminate,  if  possible,  war 
and  bloodshed.  Amid  the  confusion  of  motives, 
selfish  ambition,  we  have  ever  striven  for  the 
dominance  of  justice  and  insisted  upon  the  guar- 
antee to  all  nations  of  the  same  freedom  which 
we  demand  for  ourselves.  And  what,  after  all, 
is  our  Supreme  Court  but  an  application  of  the 
principle  according  to  which  Christ  directed  men 
to  adjust  their  differences  peaceably? 


ITS  INFLUENCE  ON  THIS  CONTINENT 

W.  E.  Doughty,  in  "The  Call  of  the  World," 
says:  "In  the  history  of  the  expanding  king- 
dom, God  has  evidently  given  to  America  a  com- 
manding place  of  leadership  and  power.  This  is 
nothing  less  than  a  divine  appointment.  To  have 
such  an  appointment  in  a  time  like  ours,  from 
our  God,  is  to  have  a  share  in  a  task  like  no  other 
task  the  world  has  ever  seen." 


AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION    163 

Our  success  in  liberating  ourselves  from  the 
oppression  of  England  and  in  setting  up  a  free 
republic  inspired  men  like  Hidalgo  y  Castillo, 
Victoria,  Bolivar,  Iturbide  and  others.  Chafing 
under  Spanish  domination,  they  waited  for  a 
favorable  moment  to  throw  off  the  galling  yoke. 
When  Napoleon,  in  1808,  deposed  Ferdinand  VII 
of  Spain  and  placed  his  own  brother  on  the 
throne,  the  last  tie  which  bound  the  colonies  to 
the  Castilian  dynasty  was  broken.  Within  two 
years  Hidalgo  y  Castillo,  a  Catholic  priest, 
headed  the  revolution  in  Mexico,  and,  though 
betrayed  by  his  Church,  the  movement  for  free- 
dom finally  succeeded.  Venezuela,  in  181 1,  and 
Chili,  in  1817,  declared  their  independence; 
Bolivia,  Ecuador,  Colombia,  Paraguay,  Uruguay 
and  Argentina  followed  in  rapid  succession,  and 
by  1828  all  the  colonies  of  South  America,  except 
the  Guianas,  and  the  Portuguese  possessions  of 
Brazil,  had  become  republics. 

In  1862,  Napoleon  III  had  overthrown  the 
Mexican  Republic  and  placed  Maximillian  of 
Austria  upon  the  throne.  The  United  States, 
engaged  in  the  Civil  W^ar,  had  uttered  its  pro- 
tests unheeded.  After  the  surrender  of  Lee,  a 
strong  note  was  sent  to  the  French  Government 
to  remove  their  troops  from  Mexican  soil.  En- 
couraged by  our  favor,  Berito  Juarez,  a  pure- 
blooded  Indian,  a  former  President,  and  his 
heroic  band,  overthrew  the  monarchy,  and  Mex- 


164     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

ico  again  was  made  free.  To-day  all  this  West- 
ern Continent  is  a  continent  of  republics,  owing 
to  the  influence  of  the  first  and  great  republic. 

With  the  establishment  of  republics,  resisted 
in  every  instance  by  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
there  entered  the  contest  for  religious  freedom, 
more  strenuously  resisted.  The  colporteurs  who 
followed  in  the  wake  of  General  Scott's  army  in 
Mexico,  and  those  who  traversed  the  states  far- 
ther south,  sowed  the  seeds  of  liberty  which  have 
not  remained  without  fruitage.  Missionaries 
sent  from  the  north  have  carried  the  message  of 
salvation  and  freedom  to  all  the  leading  centers. 
Whilst  in  practice  there  is  not  religious  equality 
everywhere,  full  religious  liberty  has  been  finally 
granted  by  the  fundamental  law  of  all  the  Cen- 
tral and  South  American  republics.  The  Prot- 
estantizing of  this  continent,  in  that  which  is 
fundamental  to  Protestantism  and  which  lies  at 
the  foundation  of  all  democratic  institutions,  has 
been  virtually  accomplished  in  every  nation  to 
the  south.  The  Protestantism  of  the  United 
States  has  to  this  extent  already  Protestantized 
the  hitherto  Roman  Catholic  countries.  The 
movement  is  proceeding  with  increased  and  gath- 
ered force,  and  immova])le  foundations  for  civil 
liberty  are  laid  in  the  conquering  power  of  the 
truth  as  it  is  in  Christ  Jesus. 

At  the  Panama  Congress,  Judge  Emilio  del 
Toro,  of  Porto  Rico,  himself  a  Roman  Catholic, 


AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION    165 

said :  "Until  a  few  years  ago,  the  Catholic 
Church  was,  in  my  native  island,  Porto  Rico,  the 
state  religion.  Among  the  public  expenditures 
those  for  worship  were  conspicuous.  The  influ- 
ence of  the  clergy  extended  everywhere.  And 
vvhat  was  the  result,  after  four  centuries  of 
abundant  opportunities?  A  people  for  the  most 
part  indifferent  or  unbelieving. 

"Those  w^ho  love  the  progress  of  the  nations, 
those  who  study  history  dispassionately,  those 
who  have  faith  in  the  improvement  of  mankind, 
cannot  but  see  with  deep  sympathy  that  the  Ref- 
ormation is  spreading,  that  free  investigation 
opens  broader  horizons  to  the  human  spirit,  that 
Christianity,  preached  and  interpreted  by  all, 
disseminates  its  beneficent  influence  and  raises 
the  level  of  society. 

"Porto  Rico  is  a  case  in  point,  and  is  conclu- 
sive evidence  to  me  of  the  results  which  will  be 
obtained  in  all  Latin  America  from  initiating  and 
sustaining  a  vigorous  and  altruistic  Protestant 
movement.  Not  only  will  religious  feeling  grovv^ ; 
not  only  will  Christianity  win  converts ;  not  only 
wdll  it  redound  in  good  to  the  Catholic  Church 
itself,  but  the  influence  of  Christianity  in  the  life 
of  the  Spanish-American  democracies  will  be 
greatly  multiplied.  There  is  something  which 
lives  in  us  which  is  part  of  our  very  being,  and  it 
is  the  heritage  received  from  our  ancestors.  And 
wherever   the   Reformation   goes,   wherever   the 


166     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

Protestant  minister  accomplishes  his  mission, 
there  it  will  go,  there  that  heritage  of  so  many 
generations  of  the  peoples  of  the  north  who 
strove  for  the  freedom  of  man  will  act  and  react." 


CHAPTER  VIII 

America's  World  Mission 
It  is  ours  to  be  either  the  grave  in  which  the  hopes 
of  the  world  will  be  entombed,  or  the  pillar  of  cloud 
that  shall  pilot  the  race  onward  to  its  millennial  glory. 
Let  us  not  forget  our  immortal  trust. — Alexander  Ham- 
ilton. 

If  America  fails,  the  world  will  fail. — Professor  Park. 

America  christianized  means  the  world  christianized. 
— Professor  Hop  pin. 

I  incline  to  think  that  the  future  of  America  is  of 
greater  importance  to  Christendom  at  large,  than  any- 
other  country. — Gladstone. 

INFLUENCE   BEYOND   THIS    CONTINENT 

America  has  been  the  leading  nation  of  the 
earth  in  humanizing  governments,  protecting  the 
weak  against  the  strong,  and  enforcing  respect 
for  the  rights  and  interests  of  the  governed.  The 
Declaration  of  Independence,  the  great  Magna 
Charta  of  freedom,  set  before  the  world  a  God- 
fearing and  liberty-loving  nation  in  its  heroic 
struggle  for  freedom.  Our  Constitutional  Con- 
vention to  guard  these  liberties  and  prevent  op- 
pression separated  the  legislative,  judicial  and 
executive  functions  of  government.  The  influ- 
167 


168     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

ence  of  our  free  institutions  has  been  felt  in  lib- 
eralizing every  government  of  Europe  from  Eng- 
land to  Russia.  The  colonies  of  Great  Britain 
have  modeled  their  constitutions  and  govern- 
ments after  the  American  and  not  the  English 
pattern ;  none  of  them  would  tolerate  a  House 
of  Lords;  and  even  England  in  recent  years  has 
shorn  that  part  of  its  Parliament  of  its  special 
prerogatives  and  abolished  plural  voting  by  the 
rich.  We  are  Americanizing — and  we  should 
Christianize — the  world. 

The  remarkable  rise  of  the  Sunrise  Kingdom 
to  leadership  among  the  oriental  nations  was 
started  by  Commodore  Perry,  of  the  United 
States  Navy,  when  he  constrained  Japan  to  aban- 
don its  policy  of  isolation  and  forced  her  to  enter 
into  fellowship  and  trade  with  the  western  na- 
tions. In  1873,  Christopher  R.  Roberts,  of  New 
York  City,  looked  out  upon  the  Ottoman  Empire 
and  Persia,  and  the  possibilities  of  the  Near  East 
under  Christian  influence,  and  ideals  loomed  large 
before  him.  He  planted  a  Christian  college  with 
American  professors  on  the  banks  of  the  Bos- 
phorus,  and  the  foundations  for  freedom  and 
future  greatness  and  prosperity  were  laid  in  the 
Balkans  and  their  surroundings.  It  was  our  gen- 
erous treatment  of  China  during  the  Boxer  up- 
rising that  vivified  the  study  of  our  American 
institutions,  led  to  the  overthrow  of  the  Manchu 
dynasty,  the  establishment  of  the  most  populous 


AMERICA'S  WORLD  MISSION  169 

republic  of  the  ages,  and  the  education  of  their 
favorite  sons  at  our  universities.  And  when  the 
history  of  the  Russian  uprising  and  the  settle- 
ment which  must  follow  this  most  terrible  of 
conflicts  shall  have  been  recorded,  it  will  be  found 
that  the  star  of  our  empire  has  come  from  Beth- 
lehem's manger,  and  that  the  principles  of  our 
holy  religion  which  have  made  us  great,  have 
brought  freedom  to  the  most  oppressed  of  the 
oppressed,  and  a  new  era  of  justice  and  honor 
to  all  the  nations  of  the  earth. 


ITS   IDEAL   OF  EQUAL  JUSTICE 

We  cannot  claim  sinlessness  for  the  United 
States  any  more  than  we  can  make  the  claim  for 
the  best  among  us.  God  does  much  of  His  work 
through  fallible  instruments.  It  is  a  high  honor 
and  a  hitherto  unattained  position  for  any  nation, 
except  the  United  States,  to  set  up  the  ideal  of 
justice  and  equality  for  all  nations,  and  to  have  it 
grown  into  its  actualization.  By  the  confessions 
of  our  adversary,  we  were  justified  in  our  con- 
flicts of  1776  and  1812.  Our  acquisition  of  Louisi- 
ana and  Oregon,  with  the  purchase  of  Florida 
and  part  of  California,  was  surely  honorable.  Our 
dealing  with  Mexico  from  the  days  of  the  an- 
nexation of  Texas  through  the  war  and  seizure 
of  territory  may  not  be  blameless,  yet  from  that 
to  the  present  day  it  involved  an  exercise  of  for- 


170     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

bearance  which  has  not  been  shown  by  any  other 
nation. 

In  our  Civil  War  we  asked  no  indemnities, 
sacrificed  blood  and  treasure  that  slavery  might 
cease,  that  the  states  of  the  Union  might  remain 
one  and  inseparable  and  bear  a  noble  part  among 
the  nations  of  the  earth.  For  years  we  suffered 
the  annoyance  of  the  misrule  of  Spain  upon 
neighboring  islands,  and  finally  made  unex- 
ampled sacrifices  that  Cuba  might  be  free  and 
that  Porto  Rico  and  the  Philippines  might  be 
raised  in  the  scale  of  civilization.  No  nation  has 
ever  done  in  the  same  period  of  time  what  we  did 
for  the  Porto  Ricans  and  the  Filipinos.  In  our 
Monroe  Doctrine  we  have  defended  the  nations 
to  the  south  from  foreign  invasion  and  conquest 
without  the  hope  of  gain,  except  the  gratitude  of 
peoples  who  can  rise  to  the  appreciation  of  un- 
selfishness. We  have  not  only  adopted  the  ideal 
of  fair  play  and  unselfishness,  but  we  have  pro- 
claimed it  as  our  working  principle  for  which  we 
stand  pledged  and  for  the  fulfillment  of  which 
we  invite  the  judgment  of  the  world.  Whatever 
may  have  been  the  feelings  of  the  various  ele- 
ments which  compose  our  nation,  when  we  de- 
parted from  the  advice  of  Washington  and  our 
historical  precedents  to  keep  free  from  European 
conflicts,  we  entered  upon  the  World  War  with 
most  unselfish  motives  and  proclaimed  to  the 
world  that  we  would  make  our  sacrifices  not  to 


AMERICA'S  WORLD  MISSION  171 

further  even  the  ends  of  our  associates,  but  for 
the  sole  purpose  of  enthroning  justice  at  the  end 
of  the  conflict  and  securing  guarantees  which 
shall  conserve  the  peace  and  happiness  of  the 
world.  It  can  be  truly  and  nobly  asserted  that 
if  the  nations  of  Europe  had  set  before  them- 
selves our  ideals  and  striven  as  we  to  attain 
them,  no  shot  would  have  been  fired  at  Sarajevo, 
nor,  if  it  had  been,  would  the  world  have  been 
drawn  into  the  awful  catastrophe.  Out  of  the 
subconscious  uprightness  of  a  God-fearing  peo- 
ple, we  framed  a  constitution  the  sole  aim  of 
which  was  to  secure  justice  and  prosperity  to  all 
men,  an  open  door  for  the  oppressed  of  all  lands, 
a  tribunal  of  arbitration  to  set  aside  the  passion- 
ate conflict  of  bloodshed  and  its  blinding  hatreds, 
and  to  enable  our  citizens  and  states  in  dispas- 
sionate reflection  and  mutual  goodwill  to  adjudi- 
cate their  differences  as  an  example  to  the  na- 
tions of  the  earth.  If  forty-eight  commonwealths, 
with  a  clear  determination  not  to  resort  to  arms, 
can  settle  their  differences  before  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  and  if  the  nations 
of  the  earth  are  really  seeking  the  best  interests 
of  others  as  well  as  their  own,  if  we  are  ready 
to  render  to  God  and  our  fellow-men  their  due, 
then  surely  there  can  be  no  hesitancy  in  creating 
a  Supreme  Court  of  the  World  to  which  all  the 
differences  among  the  nations  must  be  sub- 
m.itted  and  whose  decision  shall  be  final. 


172     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 
ITS  COMMANDING  POSITION 

We  are  in  the  north  temperate  zone,  the  zone 
of  power.  On  the  north  we  are  bounded  by  the 
greatest  lakes  and  on  the  south  by  the  largest  gulf 
in  the  world,  and  to  the  east  and  west  by  the 
limitless  oceans.  On  our  east  we  are  connected 
with  the  lands  whence  we  came  and  on  the  west 
with  the  lands  to  which  we  are  to  bring  the 
Christian  forces  of  the  world.  There  is  no  other 
great  and  independent  nation  on  the  globe,  whose 
territory  extends  from  ocean  to  ocean,  bringing 
it  into  easy  communication  with  all  the  conti- 
nents. AVe  are  in  closest  touch  with  the  unde- 
veloped regions  of  the  Canadian  Northwest, 
Alaska,  Siberia,  South  America,  Australia  and 
Africa.  Whilst  accessible  for  the  peaceful  pur- 
poses, such  as  commercial  and  missionary,  the 
oceans  are  our  greatest  protection  against  any 
possible  invasion.  Our  commanding  position  is 
not  for  world  conquest,  but  for  world  evangel- 
ization, and  for  this  we  stand  connected  with  the 
Christianized  nations  whence  we  came  and  the 
heathen  nations  to  which  we  are  to  go.  We  could 
call  them  across  the  Atlantic  to  go  with  us  to 
China,  Japan  and  India  by  way  of  the  Pacific, 
and  to  Africa  from  the  eastern  part  of  South 
America  or  directly  from  their  homelands. 

ITS    COMMANDING   LANGUAGE 

It  was  providential  that  Luther,  the  Great  Re- 
former, used  the  German  and  the  Latin  in  propa- 


AMERICA'S  WORLD  MISSION  173 

gating-  the  truth.  The  former  was  the  more 
widely  understood  in  Europe  by  the  common 
people,  and  the  other  by  the  learned  in  that  day. 
But  to-day  the  English-speaking  nations  have 
under  their  governments  more  than  one-fourth 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  and  three-fourths 
of  the  planet's  surface.  Their  united  navies 
could  control  the  seas.  America  exerts  a  mold- 
ing influence  over  all.  Dr.  Josiah  Strong  says : 
"The  English-speaking  people  are  multiplying 
more  rapidly  to-day  than  those  using  the  com- 
bined languages  of  Europe." 

In  the  world  almanac  of  Mulhall  Bartholo- 
mew, of  Edinburgh,  19 12,  the  following  table 
of  the  languages  of  the  seven  chief  nations  of  the 
civilized  world  is  given : 

1801  1901 

French 31,450,000  52,100,000 

German   30,320,000  84,200,000 

Italian    15,070,000  34.000,000 

Spanish   26,190,000  46,500,000 

Portuguese    7,480,000  15,000,000 

Russian    30,770,000  85,000,000 

English  20,520,000  180,300,000 

This  also  shows  an  increase  of  69,700,000  us- 
ing the  English  language  in  ten  years. 

Besides  this,  immigration  is  leading  millions 
to  study  the  English  tongue.     Canada,  the  hope 


174     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

of  the  twentieth  century,  is  having  an  increasing 
influx  of  people,  and  before  the  war  they  were 
coming  to  the  United  States  at  the  rate  of  more 
than  a  milHon  a  year.  The  total  immigration  to 
Canada  in  1910-11  was  the  largest  in  its  history 
—311,084. 

Dr.  A.  W.  Halsey,  in  his  leaflet  on  'The  Seven 
Wonders  of  the  Modern  Missionary  World," 
says:  'The  spread  of  the  English  language  is 
one  of  the  wonders  of  the  age.  The  English 
language  is  spoken  at  the  present  time  by  nearly 
2(X>,ooo,C)00  people ;  each  year  sees  large  additions 
to  the  group  of  English-speaking  peoples.  In  the 
Philippines  more  people  to-day  speak  the  English 
language  than  spoke  the  Spanish  language  after 
three  hundred  years  of  Spanish  rule. 

'Tn  all  the  higher  education  in  India,  English 
is  compulsory ;  in  the  secondary  schools  in  India, 
English  is  taught.  In  China,  the  government  has 
made  English  a  part  of  the  regular  curriculum. 
In  Japan,  the  students  are  eager  to  learn  Eng- 
lish. It  is  the  avenue  through  which  the  mis- 
sionary is  frequently  able  to  reach  the  educated 
classes.  Porto  Rico  and  the  Philippines  are  fast 
catching  the  accent.  In  Syria,  one  of  the  boys 
in  the  class-room  wrote  on  the  blackboard,  'God 
is  love,'  in  his  own  language;  thirty  boys  fol- 
lowed, each  writing  the  text  in  his  own  language ; 
yet  these  boys  sooner  or  later  will  all  speak  in  the 
English  language.     A  speaker  at  the  Edinburgh 


AMERICA'S  WORLD  MISSION  175 

Conference  declared  that  some  missionaries  read 
the  Lord's  command  as  though  it  were  written, 
'Go  and  teach  all  nations  the  English  language/ 
Macaulay  says  that  'whosoever  knows  the  Eng- 
lish language  has  already  access  to  the  vast  in- 
tellectual wealth  which  all  the  wisest  nations  of 
the  earth  have  created  and  stored  in  the  course 
of  ninety  generations/  The  English  language  is 
the  language  of  liberty,  of  law,  of  morals,  of  high 
ideals.  The  English  Bible,  which  has  molded 
Anglo-Saxon  civilization,  is  making  no  small  im- 
press on  world  civilization. 

'The  Greek  language  became  the  vehicle  in 
which  the  Gospel  story  was  borne  to  the  educated 
world  in  the  first  century.  The  English  language 
seems  destined  in  the  providence  of  God  to  be  the 
bearer  of  the  Gospel  to  the  races  of  the  twentieth 
century." 

CONSCIOUS  OF  ITS  WORLD  MISSION 

World  Mission.  We  realize  that  the  splendid 
position  which  is  ours,  the  religious  and  political 
inheritance  from  our  fathers  and  our  standing 
among  the  nations  of  the  earth,  is  not  for  selfish 
enjoyment.  Like  Paul,  we  feel  ourselves  debtors 
to  the  world.  Among  no  people  is  there  such  a 
quick  and  generous  response  to  misfortune  of 
any  section  or  nation  as  from  our  own.  We  had 
scarcely  grown  to  the  consciousness  of  our  free- 
dom and  of  its  benefits  than  we  pledged  the  re- 


176     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

sources  of  our  nation  to  maintain  the  blessings 
of  freedom  for  the  repubhcs  of  the  entire  conti- 
nent. 

Leroy  BeauHeu  says,  in  *'The  United  States 
of  the  Twentieth  Century":  *'The  history  of 
nations,  Hke  the  history  of  individuals,  proves 
beyond  peradventure  that  no  economic  strength, 
no  material  prosperity,  is  lasting  unless  it  be  sus- 
tained by  real  moral  worth.  Moral  worth,  which 
includes  the  recognition  of  duties  as  well  as  of 
rights,  self-respect  and  respect  for  one's  fellows, 
has  contributed  fully  as  much  as  the  magnificent 
resources  of  their  country  to  the  brilliant  success 
of  the  American  people.  Of  the  qualities  that 
have  co-operated  to  elevate  them  so  rapidly  to 
such  a  commanding  position,  the  most  impressive 
is  a  great,  a  tireless  energy."  He  might  have 
added  that  there  can  be  no  moral  worth  unless  it 
has  a  religious  background,  and  that  there  can  be 
no  lasting  morality  unless  it  is  founded  on  Christ, 
the  Mediator  between  God  and  man. 

Conscious  of  Its  Mission.  Not  only  were  these 
United  States  founded  by  religious  people,  but 
they  were,  and  their  successors  are,  conscious  of 
their  Messianic  mission.  Our  fathers  were  con- 
vinced that  this  land  with  all  its  treasures  and 
splendid  opportunities  were  not  for  themselves, 
but  for  the  people  of  the  earth.  Hence  they 
opened  their  doors  to  all  the  oppressed  and  sought 
to  live  so  that  liberty  might  enlighten  the  world. 


AMERICA'S  WORLD  MISSION  177 

Men  of  other  nations,  if  they  have  any  sense  of 
obHgation  beyond  themselves,  never  carry  it 
beyond  their  national  borders.  But  every  Ameri- 
can, ordinary  voter  or  honored  official,  realizes 
that  America  has  a  world  mission  and  dare  not 
live  to  herself.  True,  we  often  fall  far  short  of 
cur  ideal,  but  our  altruism  lifts  our  lowest  level 
above  the  highest  attainments  of  the  rest. 

Says  Senator  Beveridge,  in  "American  of  To- 
day and  To-morrow" :  "This  republic  is  no  vag- 
rant nation.  The  American  people  are  no  aim- 
less marauders.  Their  banner  floats  over  no 
pirate  craft,  portless  and  doomed.  They  are  no 
purposeless  builders  of  a  meaningless  destiny. 
They  obey  divine  directions  and  feel  that  they 
do.  The  stars  of  their  flag  are  fixed  stars.  They 
are  doing  humanity's  work — fulfilling  God's  mis- 
sion for  them — and  they  know  that  they  are. 
There  is,  in  the  progress  of  the  American  people 
through  history,  in  their  connected  and  intelligent 
work  in  the  world  and  for  it,  a  sure  faith,  a  high 
stability,  a  conservatism  of  righteousness,  a  per- 
manence and  durability  of  noble  achievement. 
'Glorious  deeds  and  lasting  results  inspired  by 
glorious  faith  and  purposes  enduring  as  the  ever- 
lasting hills' — let  this  be  the  final  word  which  the 
gray  chronicler  of  the  rise  and  decline  of  nations 
shall  write,  a  thousand  years  from  now,  when 
closing  the  review  of  the  American  people,  their 
work  and  their  place  in  history. 


178     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

"Defects  we  have — yes;  mistakes  we  have 
made — certainly.  Who  believes  the  American 
people  perfect  ?  Surely  not  the  American  people 
themselves. 

"But  we  do  declare  that  we  are  making  an 
earnest  effort  toward  perfection. 

"We  do  assert  that  American  character,  on 
the  whole,  is  sweet  and  wholesome  and  generous 
and  high  purposed. 

"We  do  proclaim  that  we  will  make  each  year 
better  than  the  last,  each  generation  nobler  than 
its  fathers. 

"We  do  assert  that  each  epoch  of  history 
shows  the  flag  planted  a  day's  march  onward, 
and  that  march  will  continue. 

"And  for  proof  of  these  claims  we  Americans 
appeal  to  chronicles  and  contemporary  events, 
and,  most  of  all,  to  the  historian  of  the  future." 

We  live  not  for  self,  but  for  God's  humanity. 

LEADER   IN    RELIGIOUS   WORLD   MOVEMENTS 

W.  E.  Doughty,  in  "The  Call  of  the  World," 
says:  "It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  out  of 
American  faith  and  courage  and  vision  were  born 
the  most  conspicuous  missionary  movements  of 
modern  times.  The  Moravians  and  Lutherans  in 
Germany,  and  William  Carey  and  others  in  Great 
Britain,  blazed  the  way  for  the  modern  mission- 
ary uprising.  In  America  the  movement  for 
world  evangelization  was  greatly  quickened  and 


AMERICA'S  WORLD  MISSION  179 

expanded  by  companies  of  students  at  Williams 
College  and  Andover  Seminary.  The  purpose  of 
these  young  men  to  carry  the  Gospel  abroad  when 
North  America  was  not  represented  by  mission- 
aries anywhere  in  the  non-Christian  world,  was 
at  the  same  time  a  mighty  challenge  to  faith  and 
a  rebuke  to  the  narrow  vision  of  American  Chris^ 
tianity  one  hundred  years  ago.  Since  that  day 
practically  all  the  conspicuous  interdenomina- 
tional missionary  movements  have  begun  their 
career  in  America.  What  student  of  missionary 
history  can  forget  that  the  Student  Volunteer 
Movement  was  born  in  a  conference  called  by 
Dwight  L.  Moody!  This  movement  caused 
America  to  dream  of  a  union  of  college  men 
throughout  the  world  for  the  world-wide  propa- 
gation of  the  Gospel.  The  fruition  of  that  vision 
is  "The  World's  Student  Christian  Federation, 
binding  together  the  students  of  many  lands  and 
thousands  of  institutions  of  higher  learning.  Let 
it  not  be  forgotten  that  God  planted  here  the  con- 
viction that  missionary  education  is  central  in 
the  life  of  the  Church  and  that  ten  years  ago  at 
Silver  Bay  on  Lake  George,  began  what  was 
then  known  as  the  Young  People's  Missionary 
Movement;  but  which  has  recently  been  renamed 
the  Missionary  Education  Movement  of  the 
United  States  and  Canada.  This  movement  has 
spread  to  other  lands.  In  North  America  alone 
in  ten  years,  more  than  one  million  copies  of 


130     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

text-books  and  large  numbers  of  other  publica- 
tions have  been  circulated  by  this  movement. 

"The  latest  of  these  evidences  of  the  mission- 
ary life  of  North  America  is  the  Laymen's  Mis- 
sionary Movement,  which  is  now  organized  in 
fourteen  of  the  principal  denominations  of  North 
America,  with  affiliated  movements  in  three 
others,  and  in  six  other  lands,  with  the  first  steps 
taken  toward  the  forming  of  three  additional 
national  organizations.  Never,  until  the  Lay- 
men's Missionary  Movement  flung  out  the  chal- 
lenge, have  Canada  and  the  United  States  so 
powerfully  felt  the  call  to  proceed  seriously  to 
undertake  to  evangelize  their  share  of  the  world." 

IT    POSSESSES   THE    MEANS    FOR    WORLD    EVAN- 
GELIZATION 

Our  agricultural  and  mineral  resources  are  al- 
most boundless.  We  have  the  best  organized 
and  developed  system  of  telegraphs  and  tele- 
phones for  communication  and  the  greatest  net- 
work of  railroads  for  transportation.  From  1880 
to  1890  we  added  more  to  our  wealth  than  the 
British  Isles  had  gained  in  over  1800  years  of 
their  existence.  From  1890  to  1900  our  daily 
increase  in  wealth  was  over  six  million  dollars; 
from  1900  to  1904  it  was  over  thirteen  millions, 
and  from  1904  to  the  present  our  wealth  has 
grown  by  leaps  and  bounds.  Harkins,  in  the 
introduction  to  his  volume,  "Our  Government," 


AMERICA'S  WORLD  MISSION  181 

says:  "The  United  States  is  the  largest  nation 
in  the  world,  in  population,  area  and  wealth, 
whose  inhabitants  speak  one  language  and  enjoy 
the  principles  of  self-government.  Having  one- 
sixteenth  of  its  population,  it  has  one-fourth  of 
its  wealth,  runs  one-third  of  its  railroads,  dis- 
tributes one-half  of  its  mail,  controls  one-half 
of  its  newspapers  and  magazines.  Having  but 
one-twentieth  of  the  world's  landed  area,  we 
raise  one-fifth  of  its  wheat,  mine  one-fourth  of 
its  gold,  dig  one-half  of  its  coal,  and  produce 
one-half  of  its  manufactured  ware,  steel  and 
petroleum,  almost  two-thirds  of  its  corn  and  four- 
fifths  of  its  cotton."  If  the  United  States  would 
contend  for  Christianity,  as  it  now  does  for 
democracy,  one  of  its  by-products,  we  would 
furnish  the  men  and  the  means  for  world  evan- 
gelization. 

IT    HAS   THE    MEN    FOR   WORLD   EVANGELIZATION 

Our  motto,  ''E  Pluribus  Unum''  must  now  be 
''£  Omnibus  Unum."  Dr.  Charles  L.  White,  in 
'The  Churches  at  Work,"  pictures  the  polyglot 
character  of  our  metropolis  thus:  "On  Monday 
morning  a  Roumanian  ashman  cleaned  my  cellar 
and  a  Pole  whitevv^ashed  its  walls.  A  Hollander 
pruned  my  vines,  a  German  plumber  came  to 
stop  a  leak  in  my  bath-room,  and  this  man's 
helper  was  a  Norwegian.  As  I  left  my  home  for 
my  office  a  seamstress  entered  to  help  my  wife. 


183    AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

She  was  a  Belgian,  and  the  man  who  was  paint- 
ing my  front  fence  was  from  Switzerland.  I  left 
my  laundry  with  a  Chinaman.  Later  I  visited 
my  Russian  tailor,  ordered  groceries  of  a  Welsh- 
man, meat  of  a  Scotchman,  and  purchased  my 
fish  dinner  for  the  next  day  at  a  Frenchman's 
store.  As  I  waited  for  an  electric  car  an  Italian 
vegetable  man  passed,  while  I  was  talking  with 
an  Irish  policeman.  The  next  day  I  bought  some 
hardware  from  an  Armenian  and  learned  that 
my  milkman  was  a  Lapp  and  my  cobbler  was  a 
Hungarian.  That  evening  a  Philippine  bellboy 
showed  me  to  a  room  in  a  hotel,  and  I  learned 
that  among  its  waiters  were  Slovaks,  Greeks  and 
Servians.  The  next  day  I  lunched  in  a  Turkish 
restaurant,  engaged  a  Syrian  to  mend  my  rugs, 
and  purchased  two  more  of  an  Armenian.  In 
the  afternoon  I  met  by  accident  a  college  class- 
mate, a  Bulgarian,  who  introduced  me  to  a  Mon- 
tenegrin. That  evening  I  learned  that  the  Aus- 
trian consul  of  the  city  had  rented  the  house  op- 
posite. The  following  Sunday  I  met  a  Cuban 
Protestant  at  church  and  found  a  Mexican,  a 
Brazilian,  Lithuanian,  a  Peruvian  and  a  Haitian 
in  a  popular  Sunday  school  class  of  one  hundred 
men.  That  evening  a  Japanese  merchant  and  his 
family  attended  service,  and  the  next  day,  as 
chairman  of  the  committee  that  looked  after  the 
repairs  of  the  church,  I  learned  that  the  Portu- 
guese sexton  had  died,  and  I  selected  a  Canadian 


AMERICA'S  WORLD  MISSION  183 

in  his  place.  The  following  day  the  man  who 
washes  my  office  windows  proved  to  be  a  Span- 
iard, and  a  Jew  wished  me  a  merry  Christmas. 
Soon  after  this,  in  an  early  train,  I  counted 
twenty-eight  passengers  in  the  car.  Four  were 
reading  German  papers,  twelve  Jewish,  six 
Italian,  and  I  concluded  that  the  only  American- 
born  man  in  the  car  besides  myself  was  a 
Negro !" 

We  are  composed  of  all  nations,  and  yet  w^e 
are  peculiarly  one  in  ideals  and  aims  and  lan- 
guage. There  is  continual  friction  between  the 
various  nationalities  in  Russia,  Austria  and  all 
the  other  nations  of  the  earth,  and  there  is  no 
hope  of  their  amalgamation.  Side  by  side  they 
perpetuate  their  national  ideals,  aims  and  lan- 
guages. Not  so  in  America.  The  most  progres- 
sive elements  of  the  globe  come  hither  because 
they  both  love  our  institutions  and  are  wearied 
of  the  conditions  they  have  forsaken.  In  a  few 
generations,  if  not  in  the  first,  they  conform  both 
to  the  ideals  and  language  of  the  land  of  their 
adoption.  A  divine  impulse  sends  them  hither 
that  the  world's  inhabitants  may  be  united  on  the 
standards  which  the  early  colonists  here  set  up. 
The  marvelous  fact  stands  out  clearly  that  in  no 
nation  are  the  elements  of  the  world  found  in 
such  large  numbers,  and  nowhere  are  they  so 
loval  to  the  national  standards  and  so  united  to 
accomplish  a  world  mission.    These  people  from 


184     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

the  ends  of  the  earth  having  made  us  what  we 
are,  may  be  readily  won  to  the  task  of  making 
the  world  what  it  should  be.  Made  up  of  all 
lands,  we  recognize  our  duty  to  all  lands. 

Must  Be  Converted.  It  is  an  axiom:  You 
cannot  convert  and  evangelize  the  nations  if  you 
cannot  convert  and  evangelize  the  nation.  Nor 
can  you  evangelize  the  nations  until  you  have 
evangelized  a  nation.  Christ  says,  **The  king- 
dom of  God  shall  be  (taken  from  you  and)  given 
to  a  nation,  bringing  forth  the  fruits  thereof.'' 
Thus  the  kingdom  must  be  national  before  it  can 
become  international.  We  cannot  have  a  sample 
to  the  nations,  a  compelling  force  for  their  con- 
version, until  there  exists  on  this  earth  a  nation 
"bringing  forth  the  fruits"  of  holy  living  and 
exhibiting  their  power  and  beauty  in  national 
life.  Our  small  impact  upon  the  heathen  lands 
is  because  of  the  lack  of  Christian  power  in  our 
own.  When  we  say  that  we  cannot  exert  a  power 
in  the  foreign  lands  w^hich  we  do  not  possess  in 
the  homelands,  we  do  not  thereby  assert  that  no 
missionary  should  be  sent  abroad  until  every  last 
man  has  been  converted  in  America.  But  we  do 
say  that  missionaries  of  American,  German, 
English,  and  other  foreign  origin,  will  never  con- 
vert India,  China,  Japan,  Africa  and  the  rest  of 
the  heathen.  We  do  mean  to  say  that  you  can 
only  undertake  the  work  in  these  lands  in  pro- 
portion as  you  have  already  accomplished  it  in 


AMERICAS  WORLD  MISSION  185 

your  own.  We  do  mean  to  say  that  the  difficulty 
and  the  lack  of  progress  of  our  work  in  foreign 
lands  is  solely  and  alone  due  to  the  fact  that  the 
homelands  have  not  been  Christianized.  Chris- 
tianize America  and  the  completion  of  the  task 
is  assured.  This  is  the  teaching  of  the  Bible  and 
is  written  in  big  letters  on  the  entire  history  of 
the  Church. 

Conversion  Possible.  America's  conversion  is 
a  promising  task.  She  can  most  easily  be  turned 
to  Christ  and  used  in  His  service.  She  is  the 
most  Christian  nation  and  responds  most  readily 
to  the  appeal  of  the  Gospel.  We  have  more 
churches  to  the  number  of  inhabitants,  and  attend 
them  better,  than  any  other.  We  have  now  over 
twenty-three  million  Protestant  communicants, 
and  over  162,000  Protestant  ministers.  We  have 
a  constituency  far  beyond  this.  If  a  great  mod- 
ern evangelist,  faulty  in  method  and  message, 
could  stop  the  mouth  of  infidelity,  compel  the 
press  to  advertise  him,  have  people  singing  on 
the  street  cars  and  earnestly  discussing  religion 
for  the  several  months  he  labored  in  Philadel- 
phia, what  could  not  the  162,000  ministers  and 
twenty-three  million  communicants  do  in  the 
entire  Union,  were  we  intensely  in  earnest?  If 
the  Christian  forces  in  the  United  States  would 
contend  and  sacrifice  for  Christ  as  did  the  men 
in  the  trenches  of  Europe  and  the  people  in  the 
lands  to  which  they  belong,  how  long  would  it  be 


186     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

until  all  America  would  be  as  Christian  as  are 
our  Christian  homes,  and  the  dominance  of 
Christian  principles  enthroned  among  us !  If  we 
would  train,  organize,  equip  and  fight,  day  and 
night,  Sunday  and  weekday,  for  Christ  and  the 
enthronement  of  His  will  on  earth  and  for  the 
coming  of  His  kingdom  in  love  and  peace  as  they 
do  with  shot  and  shell,  the  issue  would  not  be 
doubtful.  Who  would  resist  an  earnest,  loving, 
self-sacrificing  Church  in  its  work  of  lifting  off 
this  world's  burdens!  If  we  were  to  work  with 
divine  patriotism  equal  to  the  national  patriotism, 
determined  to  invade  and  destroy  opposition  to 
righteousness,  it  would  not  be  three  months  until 
every  saloon  would  be  closed,  every  red  light  dis- 
trict removed,  every  city  hall  and  legislature  a 
house  of  prayer;  in  every  shop  and  mart  there 
would  be  goodwill  between  capital  and  labor; 
disease-breeding  tenements  would  be  torn  to  the 
ground ;  men  would  think  as  little  of  over-reach- 
ing their  neighbors  or  their  wives  as  we  now 
think  of  dueling.  Then  our  ships  would  carry 
only  witnesses  for  Christ  both  in  the  cabins  and 
in  the  hold.  Then  nations  would  run  unto  us 
because  of  the  Lord  and  return  to  put  in  practice 
the  principles  on  which  our  prosperity  and  happi- 
ness was  built.  Our  infidel  seats  of  learning 
would  be  confounded  by  the  beauty  of  the  Lord 
our  God  resting  upon  us,  and  those  who  hitherto 
sneered  would  praise. 


AMERICA'S  WORLD  MISSION  187 

AMERICA   CONVERTED  MEANS   A  WORLD  CONVERTED 

Christ  chose  Jerusalem  as  the  place  of  begin- 
ning, not  because  it  was  the  largest  city  in  the 
world,  but  because  it  contained  ''devout  men  out 
of  every  nation  under  heaven."  There  were  pres- 
ent, and  there  came  to  Jerusalem  every  year,  men 
who  returned  again  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the 
earth.  They  came  from  the  east,  the  west,  the 
north  and  the  south.  Convert  Jerusalem  and 
there  would  be  witnesses  to  return  at  their  own 
expense  to  the  lands  whence  they  had  come.  It 
\\as  through  such  converts,  as  we  have  seen,  that 
the  Church  at  Rome  was  founded  even  before 
Paul  ever  set  foot  in  the  Imperial  City.  It  was 
through  such  converts  that  the  Gospel  was 
preached  as  a  witness  in  all  the  inhabited  earth 
in  the  days  of  the  great  apostle,  as  he  testified 
both  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  and  to  the 
Colossians.  The  conversion  of  Jerusalem,  Judea, 
GaHlee  and  Samaria  meant  the  securing  of  men 
and  means  for  the  world's  conversion,  in  that 
day.  However,  the  homeland  was  not  converted, 
l^ut  destroyed,  and  the  work  is  still  awaiting  com- 
pletion in  our  day. 

In  these  United  States,  as  we  have  seen,  we 
have  men  from  "every  nation  under  heaven." 
Dr.  Edward  Steiner,  in  one  of  his  books,  calls 
attention  to  the  fact  that  the  men  who  return 
from  America  to  their  native  lands  carry  back 
with  them  what  we  here  teach  and  impress  upon 


188     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

them,  and  has  shown  what  remarkable  changes 
they  produce.  Convert  America  and  you  convert 
ten  milhon  Africans,  over  a  milhon  Jews  and 
Itahans,  80,000  Chinese,  70,000  Japanese,  40,000 
Latin  Americans,  6000  Hindus,  besides  many 
Armenians,  Persians,  Turks,  Syrians  and 
immigrants  from  all  the  other  lands.  America 
converted,  we  would  have  returned  2762  Chin- 
ese, 3352  Japanese,  6593  Turks,  9376  Greeks, 
27,093  Russians,  72,640  Italians,  besides  thou- 
sands of  other  lands  not  enumerated  in  the 
year  1910.  And  these  would  return  of 
their  own  accord  to  their  native  lands  as  wit- 
nesses for  Christ.  Convert  America  and  you 
could  send  out  the  150  students  in  our  universi- 
ties from  India,  the  200  from  Armenia,  the  300 
from  the  Philippine  Islands,  the  1000  from  Japan, 
the  1400  from  China,  the  2000  from  Latin  Amer- 
ica, as  missionaries  for  Christ.  Convert  America 
and  you  will  have  the  350,000  who  return  from 
America  every  year,  year  in  and  year  out,  to 
preach  the  crucified  and  risen  Saviour  in  their 
native  lands  and  native  tongues.  Instead  of  the 
20,000  foreign  missionaries,  including  the  wives 
of  the  men  we  send,  you  would  have  a  steady 
annual  stream  of  350,000  native  missionaries  to 
all  the  foreign  lands.  From  1901  to  1910,  a 
period  of  ten  years,  there  came  to  these  United 
States  over  eight  million  from  all  the  lands  of  the 
globe,  and  there  returned  three  million  five  hun- 


AMERICA'S  WORLD  MISSION  189 

dred  thousand,  or  an  average  of  three  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  every  year.  These  are  not 
foreigners  to  the  people  to  whom  they  returned, 
but  of  their  own  flesh  and  blood.  Because  they 
loved  the  people  of  their  own  lands,  they  went 
back.  They  did  not  need  to  learn  the  language 
nor  adapt  themselves  to  the  customs,  or  win  their 
way  into  the  confidence  and  affection  of  the  peo- 
ple. They  were  bone  of  their  bone.  If  converted 
to  Christ  with  an  appreciation  of  the  value  of 
Jesus  to  themselves  and  their  people,  with  what 
an  enthusiasm  and  with  what  a  demonstration 
of  the  spirit  they  would  testify  of  Christ.  Con- 
vert America  and  those  returned  natives  would 
be  marshaled  into  a  missionary  force  with  defi- 
nite plans  and  objectives,  and  then  v/e  would 
have  Pentecost  fulfilled. 

An  Italian  shoemaker  comes  to  New  York  as 
irreligious  as  he  left  his  native  land.  He  is  con- 
verted. He  returns  to  the  town  in  which  he 
sinned.  The  people  knew  him  as  he  left  and  they 
saw  him  as  he  returned.  In  a  short  time  he  gath- 
ered three  hundred  communicants  into  a  Chris- 
tian congregation. 

A  Chinaman  comes  to  the  city  of  San  Fran- 
cisco a  heathen.  He  returns  to  the  scenes  of  his 
childhood  a  Christian.  Night  after  night  he 
preaches  in  those  towns  and  villages.  They  come 
by  thousands,  throwing  their  idols  to  moles  and 
bats,  and  ask  baptism  in  the  name  of  Jesus. 


190     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

America  to-day  has  been  placed  by  God  in  the 
center  of  the  world's  movement.  She  has  dem- 
ocratized the  world,  and  it  now  remains  for  her 
to  turn  the  world's  attention  from  this  by-product 
to  the  invaluable  product  of  our  high  and  holy 
religion.  God  has  given  to  her  the  ear  of  the 
world  as  He  never  gave  it  to  any  other  nation. 
Oh,  that  the  Church  would  beseech  and  constrain 
America  to  fully  accept  the  Christ  and  to  more 
fully  permeate  her  acts  and  dealings  with  the 
spirit  of  Christ!  We  are  confident  that  she 
would  prove  to  be  the  leader  and  she  would  thus 
become  the  servant  of  the  nations.  Then,  truly, 
in  the  words  of  Gladstone,  her  service  would  be 
the  greatest  and  the  best. 

Rev.  H.  Paul  Douglass  closes  his  book  on 
''The  New  Home  Missions"  with  this  tribute  and 
appeal :  **A  mighty  land — to  glimpse  whose 
future  is  to  share  a  mission  with  the  stars;  to 
control  whose  destinies  is  to  stand  within  the 
grip  of  the  right  hand  of  the  omnipotent  God. 
What,  then,  lovingly  and  faithfully  to  follow  and 
to  serve  all  the  strange  and  complicated  paths  of 
social  duty  into  the  furthest  recesses,  the  utter- 
most nooks  and  crannies  of  human  relationship; 
to  control  their  inner  qualities  and  applications 
as  well  as  their  outer  exhibitions  and  forms ! 
What,  then,  to  occupy  this  land  for  Christ,  not 
fragmentarily,  as  the  field  has  won  upon  the 
forest;  not  fitfully,  as  the  wind  sweeps  over  the 


AMERICA'S  WORLD  -MISSION  191 

prairies;  but  searchingly,  engulfingly,  as  the 
waters  cover  the  sea!  What,  then,  to  share  in 
the  social  realization  of  Christianity,  O  country 
of  our  love!" 

"And   crown    thy   good    with   brotherhood, 
From  sea  to  shining  sea." 


LEADER'S  HANDBOOK 


APPENDIX   TO   CHAPTER   I 
The   purpose  and  general   character  of   the  book  is 
stated    clearly    in    the    "Introduction"    and    "Preface." 
Study  that  carefully  before  attempting  to  plan  for  the 
course  or  to  call  your  class  together. 

Each  member  of  the  class  ought  to  be  urged  to 
preface  his  studies  by  a  careful  reading  of  the  "In- 
troduction" and  "Preface." 

The  leader  will  find  that  it  will  be  of  great  value  to 
read  the  entire  book  and  to  prepare  an  outline  before 
calling  his  class  together.  This  will  be  an  excellent 
preparation  for  the  details  of  the  study  plans. 

Meeting  for  the  Organisation  of  the  Class 

The  idea  of  an  organization  meeting  preliminary  to 
the  first  formal  study  session  of  the  class  is  to  arouse 
interest  by  a  general  presentation  of  the  book's  con- 
tents, to  distribute  the  individual  copies  of  the  book, 
and  to  assign  the  definite  work  for  the  first  lesson. 
The  following  program  is  suggested : 
Ask  questions  to  find  out  whether  any  members  of 
the  class  have  studied  any  other  books  on  Home  or 
Foreign  Missions.  Note  those  who  have  done  so  and 
what  books  they  have  used.  You  can  use  such  mem- 
bers for  the  first  study  session,  since  they  will  have 
some  knowledge  of  the  subject  and  the  method  of 
mission  study.  Attend  to  this  in  connection  with  the 
enrollment. 

193 


194     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

Keep  the  Class  Roll  in  a  suitably  ruled  book,  so  that 
attendance  can  be  marked  regularly.  Impress  all  with 
the  seriousness  of  the  work  undertaken. 

A  display  of  Home  Mission  literature  will  be  most 
helpful.  Use  books  of  our  own  denominational 
authors  and  of  others  as  well.  The  following  sugges- 
tions are  made:  "The  Home  Mission  Week  Hand- 
book"; Hunt's  "Lutheran  Home  Missions";  Trabert's 
"English  Lutheranism  in  the  Northwest" ;  Douglass's 
"The  New  Home  Missions" ;  Allen's  "Home  Missions 
in  Action" ;  Clark's  "Leavening  the  Nation" ;  Barnes's 
"Elemental  Forces  in  Home  Missions" ;  Love's  "The 
Mission  of  Our  Nation";  Pierson's  "The  Divine  En- 
terprise of   Missions." 

Some  brief  time  ought  to  be  spent  in  a  cursory  ex- 
amination of  Home  Mission  Fundaincntals  in  the  light 
of  the  outline  the  leader  has  prepared  and  put  upon  the 
board.  Preface  the  examination  by  reading  the  "In- 
troduction" and  "Preface"  in  concert.  Follow  it  by  a 
short  statement  concerning  the  aim  of  the  course  as 
you  conceive  it  and  desire  its  realization. 

You  are  ready  now  for  the  assignments  on  Chap- 
ter I.  Assignments,  both  general  and  special,  will  be 
found  for  each  lesson,  properly  indicated.  All  general 
assignments  may  be  copied  in  carbon  so  that  each  mem- 
ber may  be  handed  a  copy  and  no  time  lost.  Provide 
note-books  of  uniform  size  for  the  members.  These 
will  serve  for  their  making  note  of  special  assignments 
and  for  preparing  such  assignments.  Thus  all  their 
work  will  be  assembled  for  them  at  the  close  of  the 
course. 

It  is  suggested  that  after  the  assignment  sheets  have 
been  distributed  at  this  first  meeting  the  various  items 
be  read  in  concert  and  explained  so  that  all  will  under- 
stand what  is  meant  and  expected.  At  subsequent 
meetings  a  brief  time  might  be  allowed  after  the  dis- 


APPENDIX  TO  CHAPTER  I  195 

tribution  of  assignment  sheets,  during  which  questions 
might  be  asked,  after  the  members  have  read  the  work 
designated. 

Assignments  on  Chapter  I 

I.  Each  member  to  write  in  his  note-book  his  own  out- 
Hne  of  the  chapter. 

2  Make  Hsts  in  parallel  columns  of  the  various  activ- 
ities of  Home  Missions. 

3.  Make  a  list  of  some  things  man's  word  has  accom- 

plished. 

4.  2\Iake    another   of    some   things    which    God's    Word 

has  wrought. 

5.  Each  member  will  bring  a  Bible  with  him. 

6.  Read  Pierson's  "Divine  Enterprise  of  Missions." 

7.  Read  Josiah  Strong's  "The  Next  Great  Awakening," 

Chapter  I. 
The  session  may  close  with  a  prayer  for  divine  guid- 
ance and  blessing  upon  leader  and  members  to  the 
accomplishment  of  permanent  good  in  each  one's  life 
and  in  the  work  of  the  kingdom  in  America  and  in  the 
world. 

The  First  Session 

Open  this  hour  with  the  concerted  reading  of  Matt. 
28:  16-20  and  of  the  two  paragraphs  which  follow  this 
passage  on  pages  3  and  4  of  "Home  Mission  Funda- 
mentals." Call  for  any  questions  and  remarks  on  the 
Scripture  lesson. 

Have  a  member  of  the  class,  appointed  beforehand, 
to  offer  prayer  for  guidance  in  the  hour's  study. 

Let  there  be  comparison  and  criticism  of  the  outlines 
prepared  by  the  members.  If  a  blackboard  is  available 
two  or  three  might  be  written  thereon  for  this  purpose. 
Large  sheets  of  manila  paper  will  serve  also.  Other- 
wise have  one  member  read  his  outline  and  the  rest 
tell  wherein  theirs  differ. 


196     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

Choose  what  seems  to  you  to  be  the  main  points  and 
encourage   discussion   by   questions   or    suggestions. 

Let  there  be  brief  comparison  of  the  lists  of  Home 
Mission  activities. 

Pursue  the  same  course  with  those  dealing  with  the 
accomplishment  of  God's  Word  and  man's. 

Have  a  brief  discussion  of  the  fundamental  place 
which  God's  Word  must  hold  in  the  Church's  life  and 
work. 

In  order  to  lead  forward  to  the  next  chapter  close 
with  a  discussion  of  the  two  questions: 

a.  Why  are  agents  necessary  in  God's  work? 

b.  How  does  He  provide  these  necessary  agents? 

APPENDIX  TO  CHAPTER  II 
General : 

1.  Chapter  Outline  by  each  member. 

2.  Suggest  passages  additional  to  those  in  the  book 
to  illustrate  the  three  ways  in  which  men  are 
God's  agents. 

3.  Make  a  list  of  the  various  types  of  agents  men- 
tioned in  the  New  Testament  and  show  these 
three  forms  of  service  meet  all  demands. 

4.  Be  prepared  to  suggest  which  of  these  types  is 
specially  prominent  in  the  Church  to-day,  and  why 
the  others  are  needed  to  keep  the  balance  in  our 
development. 

Special : 

a.  Ask  one  member  to  prepare  a  short  essay  on 
Offices  in  the  New  Testament  Church. 

b.  Request  another  to  prepare  to  talk  briefly  on  the 
Signers  of  the  Augsburg  Confession.  Ask  this 
member  to  see  that  a  few  copies  of  a  list  of  the 
names  are  provided  to  have  the  members  read  the 
names   together. 


APPENDIX  TO  CHAPTER  II  197 

c.  Read    Pierson's    "The   Divine   Enterprise   of   Mis- 
sions,'' Chapter  I,  etc. 

The  Closing  Prayers 

Various  members  might  be  requested  beforehand  to 
offer  short  prayers  on  the  following  topics : 

That  God  would  continue  to  magnify  His  Word 
among  men. 

That  He  would  grant  all  church  members  a  vision 
of  the  essential  oneness  of  the  missionary  task. 

That  He  would  enlighten  the  Church  and  the  in- 
dividual as  to  the  great  need  of  human  agents  for  the 
spread  of  the  Gospel. 

The  Second  Session 

Begin  this  time  with  the  singing  or  reading  of  the 
hymn,  "How  blessed  from  the  bonds  of  sin,"  etc. 
(Common   Service  Book,  258). 

Follow  this  by  the  responsive  reading  of  Acts  6: 
1-15  and  7:  55-60. 

Point  out  how  the  Holy  Spirit  led  the  Church  to  see 
and  supply  the  need  for  a  division  of  service ;  how 
those  who  were  ready  to  serve  materially  were  em- 
powered for  spiritual  service;  how  the  division  of 
service  resulted  in  increased  triumphs  for  the  Gospel 
of  the  cross. 

Again  discuss  the  outline  by  comparison  and  criti- 
cism. This  enables  all  to  get  a  comprehensive  view 
of  the  argument  of  the  chapter.  In  this  connection 
note  the  connection  between  Chapters  I  and  H,  review- 
ing the  main  points  of  the  last  lesson. 

Have  the  essay  on  Offices  in  the  New  Testament 
Church  read  and  call  for  suggestions  of  the  types  ex- 
isting to-day,  as  an  introduction  to  the  discussion  of 
the  seven  privileges  of  the  Priesthood  of  Believers. 
Show   which  are   exercised   collectively  and  which   in- 


198     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

dividually.  Ask  each  member  to  answer  the  question, 
Which  of  these  privileges  can  I  and  ought  I  to  exer- 
cise? 

Emphasize  Witnessing  as  the  essential  function. 

Discuss  the  witness's  equipment,  stressing  faith,  obe- 
dience, self-surrender  and  experience. 

Have  the  essay  on  The  Signers  of  the  Augsburg 
Confession  read  in  this  connection. 

Close  the  discussion  with  the  practical  application  of 
witnessing  qualities  and  opportunities  to  each  member 
of  the  class,  making  use  of  these  three  questions : 

1.  Are  you  fitted  to  be  an  agent? 

2.  Are  you  willing  to  serve  God  thus? 

3.  Where  do  your  opportunities  lie? 

APPENDIX  TO  CHAPTER  HI 
General : 

Make  an  outline  of  the  chapter.     Also  make 

1.  A  personally  worded  definition  of  Home  Missions. 

2.  An  individual  answer  to  the  question,  What  are 
the  Home  Mission  applications  of  the  command- 
ments on  the  Second  Table? 

3.  A  written  answer  to  the  proposition,  The  Luth- 
eran Church  needs  to  broaden  her  conception  of 
the  scope  of  Home  Missions. 

4.  Read  Josiah  Strong's  "The  Next  Great  Awaken- 
ing," Chapters  H  to  IX.  Douglass's  "The  New 
Home  Missions,"  Chapters  II  to  V. 

Special : 

a.  Ask  one  member  to  lead  a  brief  discussion  on  the 
question,  Hozv  is  my  work  sacred f 

b.  Have  another  to  open  a  short  discussion  on  the 
way  in  which  Biblical  history  justifies  any  inter- 
ference in  social  and  economical  conditions  on  the 
part  of  the  Church. 


APPENDIX  TO   CHAPTER   III  199 

c.  Request  a  third  to  read  Luther's  pamphlet,  "To 
the  Christian  Nobility  of  Germany,"  and  review 
its  general  argument  for  the  class. 

\ 
Suggested  Prayers  for  This  Session 

Thanksgiving  for  the  witnesses  of  the  Church's  past. 

That  the  compelling  unction  of  the  Lord  of  the 
Harvest  be  laid  upon  the  youth  of  your  congregation 
and  of  all  our  churches,  that  they  may  feel  themselves 
thrust  into  the  reaping. 

Earnest  petition  for  grace  to  knoiv,  and  power  and 
place  to  tell  of  Christ  Jesus  be  given  to  each  Chris- 
tian in  this  our  day  s.o  that  the  universal  priesthood 
of  all  believers  may  manifest  its  presence  and  power 
in  the  world. 

The  Third  Session 

Begin  this  session  by  the  concerted  reading  of  Acts  i : 
I-I2.  After  the  reading  discuss  briefly  the  zmdening 
circle  of  missionary  endeavor  as  presented  by  the  pro- 
gram given  the  apostles. 

Take  up  the  definitions  of  Home  Missions ;  find  out 
how  members  of  the  class  arrived  at  their  conclusions ; 
write  upon  the  board  a  composite  definition  taken  from 
the  definitions  presented. 

Open  a  short  discussion  of  Home,  Church  and  State 
as  outlined  in  the  chapter.  Introduce  here  the  question 
as  to  the  function  of  the  Church  in  economic  and 
social  problems. 

Call  for  the  talk  on  Luther's  pamphlet. 

Take  some  time  to  ask  questions  about  "The  King- 
dom," as  treated  in  Chapter  HL 

Follow  this  by  the  symposium  on  How  is  my  zvork 
sacred f 

Close  with  the  reading  of  members'  answers  to  the 
two  assigned  questions. 


200     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

Explain  that  the  preparation  of  the  chapter  outnne 
is  of  value,  even  when  not  used  in  class.  No  detailed 
examination  of  individual  outlines  is  recommended  for 
this  lesson. 

APPENDIX  TO  CHAPTER  IV 
General  : 

1.  Ask  each  member  to  prepare  an  outline  on  a  large 
sheet,  so  that  all  can  read  it  without  knowing  who 
wrote  it.  Provide  the  sheets  beforehand,  and  give 
one  to  each  member. 

2.  Each  one  should  prepare  parallel  lists  of  what  ap- 
pears to  be  the  fundamental  and  the  relative  parts 
of  the  mission  work. 

3.  Study  the   Scripture  passages  and  their  contexts. 

Special : 

a.  A  paper  on  Jesus  as  a  Home  Missionary. 

b.  One  on  Paul's  Valuation  of  Home  Missions.  (In 
the  light  of  the  chapter's  presentation.) 

Closing  Prayer  Topics 

That  the  Church  and  the  world  be  given  a  large 
understanding  of  "The  Kingdom." 

That  the  Church  may  be  granted  a  constantly  en- 
larging vision  of  the  scope  of  her  mission. 

That  she  may  be  led  to  find  and  put  into  operation 
the  best  possible  means  for  making  the  influence  of 
true  Christian  principles  felt  in  the  solution  of  all 
social  and  economic  problems  in  our  day. 

The  Fourth  Session 

If  a  good-sized  map  of  the  Ancient  World  can  be 
secured  or  prepared  and  if  a  world  map  of  modern 
times  be  hung  alongside  of  it,  the  interest  and  profit 
of  the  session  will  be  enhanced  greatly. 

Have  the  Scripture  lesson  read  by  one  of  the  mem- 


APPENDIX  TO  CHAPTER  V  201 

bers.  The  suggested  passages  are  Romans  10:1-4; 
11:1-15,  13-16,  25-36.  Preface  this  reading  by  an  ex- 
planation of  the  passage  as  an  illustration  of  Paul's 
interpretation  of  the  destiny  of  Israel  as  referred  to 
in  the  chapter  to  be  studied. 

Following  the  lesson  have  the  presentation  and  dis- 
cussion of  the  paper  on  Paul's  Valuation  of  Home 
Missions. 

Then  have  the  paper  on  Jesus  as  a  Home  Missionary 
read. 

Now  display  the  chapter  outlines,  read  them  care- 
fully, and  have  the  class  decide  which  it  considers  the 
best  one.  Announce  the  name  of  the  author  of  the 
chosen  outline  at  the  session's  close. 

Review  with  the  maps  the  course  of  The  Widening 
Circle. 

Close  with  a  discussion  of  the  lists  of  fundamental 
and  relative  missionary  activities. 

,      APPENDIX  TO  CHAPTER  V 
General : 

1.  The  chapter  outline. 

2.  A  list  of  the  Lost  Opportunities  as  outlined  by 
the  book  and  adding  any  others  of  which  the 
members  can  think. 

3.  Contrast   State   Churches  with  Free  Churches. 

Special : 

a.  The  preparation  of  a  list  of  Strategic  Centers  of 
ancient  and  medieval  times. 

b.  A  similar  list  of  what  seems  to  the  members  to 
be  Strategic  Centers  of  the  present  day. 

The  Prayers  at  This  Session 

The  Collect  for  the  Jews,  Common  Service  Book, 
No.  57,  page  179. 


202     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

That  our  grasp  of  the  fundamentals  of  mission  work 
may  be  so  strong  as  to  enable  the  Church  to  work 
more  effectively  both  at  home  and  abroad. 

The  Lord's  Prayer. 

The  Fifth  Session 

Let  this  hour  open  with  a  prayer  for  the  enlighten- 
ment of  the  members  of  the  class  and  of  the  entire 
Church  to  enable  them  to  see  and  understand  the  mis- 
takes of  the  past,  and  for  grace  to  correct  them  in 
the  missionary  programs  and  performances  of  the 
present  and  the  future. 

Have  a  "Geography  Lesson,"  using  the  maps  to  point 
out  how  certain  cities  and  sections  deserve  the  title. 
Strategic  Centers.  In  this  connection  use  the  lists 
prepared  by  certain  members.  Those  who  have  pre- 
pared such  lists  might  be  assigned  to  conduct  this  por- 
tion of  the  lesson. 

Discuss  Lost  Opportunities  on  the  basis  of  the  book's 
presentation  and  the  lists  prepared  by  members.  Lead 
the  discussion  into  a  review  of  the  opportunities  which 
the  Lutheran  Church  has  lost. 

Call  for  opinions  on  the  Four  Propositions. 

Close  with  a  rapid  sketch  of  the  argument  of  the 
final  paragraphs  of  the  chapter. 

APPENDIX  TO  CHAPTER  VI 
Assignments  for  Chapter  VI 
General : 

1.  An  outline  of  the  chapter.     Read    "The   Mission 
of  Our  Nation,"  by  J.  F.  Love,  Chapter  I. 

2.  Parallel    outlines    of    the    lives    of    Luther    and 
Columbus. 

3.  Read  Chapter  I,  "New  Home  Missions,"  by  Doug- 
lass, and  "Kingdom  Preparedness,"  by  Kinney. 


APPENDIX  TO  CHAPTER  VI  203 

Special : 

Assign  brief  papers  on  the  following  subjects  to 
members  of  the  class : 

a.  God's  Hand  in  Our  Country's  History. 

b.  Home    Mission    Contributions    to    Our    National 
Territory. 

c.  The  Panama  Canal  and  Home  Missions. 

Subjects  for  Petitions 

That  the  "testimony  of  history"  may  speak  loudly 
and  effectively  to  the  Church  and  nation  alike  in  these 
days. 

That  America  may  not  lose  her  opportunity,  since 
God  has  made  for  her  a  manifest  place  and  destiny 
among  the  nations. 

That  our  own  denomination  may  come  to  see  and  to 
know  her  opportunity,  and  that  she  may  have  strength 
to  accept  and  discharge  her  duty  as  God  fits  her 
for  it. 

The  Sixth  Session 

For  this  lesson  a  modern  world  map  is  a  necessary 
adjunct.  If  a  map  showing  the  various  stages  of  the 
United  States'  territorial  expansion  can  be  displayed  it 
will  be  of  assistance  also. 

Use  Matt.  21 :  33-46  as  the  Scripture  to  be  read. 

Discuss  the  outline  prepared  by  the  members. 

Have  the  class  assist  in  placing  on  the  board  a  con- 
secutive list  of  the  nations  God  tested  in  choosing  a 
nation  to  do  His  will. 

Some  questions  to  raise  discussion : 

a.  What  means  did  God  use  from  time  to  time  to 
further  the  spread  of  the  Truth?  (Printing, 
wars,  discoveries,  etc.) 

b.  How  does  the  topographical  contour  of  a  coun- 
try effect  national  unity? 


204     AxMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

c.  What  special  evidences  has  God  given  of  His 
choice  of  America? 

d.  How  did  the  various  eras  of  expansion  in 
United  States  history  contribute  to  her  growth 
in  national  greatness  and  increase  her  world- 
influence? 

In  connection  with  these  questions  have  the  appro- 
priate essays  read. 

APPENDIX  TO  CHAPTER  VII 
General : 

1.  Make  an  outline  of  the  chapter. 

2.  Make  a  list  of  the  factors  contributing  to  Amer- 
ica's fitness  to  be  "The  Messianic  Nation." 

3.  Read  James  Franklin  Love's  "The  Mission  of  Our 
Nation,"  Chapter  II. 

Special : 

a.  A  paper  on  The  Western  Course  of  Empire. 

b.  A  list  of  God's  Waits  as  a  basis  for  discussion. 

c.  Chart  or  outline  of  our  National  Constitution. 
(If  this  is  not  obtainable  ask  for  a  paper  on  The 
Christian  Elements  in  Our  National  Constitution.) 

Prayers  at  the  Session's  Close 

Thanksgiving  for  the  discovery  of  America  and  for 
its  progress  to  blessed  greatness. 

Supplication  for  all  to  whom  governing  authority 
has  been  delegated  that  each  may  be  guided  by  Chris- 
tian principles  and  animated  by  Christian  motives  in 
the  discharge  of  his  office. 

That  the  Church  may  be  enabled  to  do  her  full  duty 
toward  bringing  our  country  to  realize  that  God  has 
marked  her  as  the  chosen  nation  of  the  twentieth 
century. 


APPENDIX  TO  CHAPTER  VIII  205 

The  Seventh  Session 

Open  with  the  reading  of  Isaiah  55  in  concert.  Fol- 
low with  some  remarks  upon  the  fifth  verse  in  its 
application  to  the  subject  under  discussion. 

If  possible,  have  the  class  sing  "My  Country,  'Tis 
of  Thee." 

Have  the  class  discuss  the  list  of  God's  Waits. 

Discuss  the  list  of  factors  contributing  to  America's 
fitness  for  a  world  task  as  given  by  the  author. 

Call  for  any  additional  factors  which  members  may 
have  listed. 

Discuss  the  outline  of  the  Constitution,  or  the  papers 
upon  its  Christian  elements.  Stress  this  idea  in  either 
case. 

Close  with  a  general  review  of  the  chapter,  based 
upon  the  outlines  made  by  the  members. 

APPENDIX  TO  CHAPTER  VIII 
General : 

1.  A  chapter  outline. 

2.  A  general  outline  of  the  book. 

3.  A  list  of  the  nations  affected  by  the  example  of 
American  institutions. 

4.  A  list  of  the  wars  of  the  United  States,  with  aims 
and  results  in  separate  parallel  columns. 

5.  A  list  of  the  movements  inaugurated  by  America, 
religious,  moral  and  economic. 

6.  A  brief  prayer  based  on  the  individual  members' 
impressions  of  the  book  and  its  lessons. 

7.  Read  "The  Mission  of  Our  Nation,"  by  Love, 
Chapter  V,  and  "New  Home  Missions,"  by  Doug- 
lass, Chapter  VHI. 

Special : 

a.  Paper  on  America's  Strategic  Position. 

b.  Chart  of  the  Waves  of  Immigration  to  the  United 


206     AMERICA  AND  WORLD  EVANGELIZATION 

States.     (Government  publications  will  be  helpful 
in  the  preparation.) 

c.  A   brief    review   of    the   chapter's   presentation    of 
America's  Equipment  for  World  Evangelisation. 

d.  Blackboard    or    chart    presentation    of    Americas 
Four  Propositions. 

Some  Things  for  Which  to  Pray 

Thanksgiving  for  the  divine  elements  of  greatness 
in  our  national  institutions  and  our  national  character. 

Thanksgiving  for  the  "great  men  and  good"  who 
founded  our  colonies,  won  our  independence,  shaped 
our  national  unity  and  gave  us  our  national  ideals. 

That  our  country's  influence  on  this  continent  may 
continue  to  be  powerful  toward  the  realization  of 
Christian  and  democratic  ideals  in  commerce,  society 
and  government. 

That  the  Church,  and  our  denomination  as  a  part  of 
it,  may  be  empowered  to  contribute  largely  to  the 
Christianity  of  our  beloved  country,  yea,  of  both 
Americas. 

The  Eighth  Session 

Open  with  the  singing  of  ''The  Star-Spangled 
Banner." 

Pray  for  the  land  of  this  flag  and  for  those  that 
enjoy  its  blessings  that  absolutely  unselfish  world- 
service  may  characterize  their  course;  that  this  final 
session  may  bring  all  members  face  to  face  with  great 
visions,  great  opportunities  and  great  personal  de- 
cisions as  citizens  of  a  chosen  nation,  and  as  members 
of  God's  "peculiar  people" — the  Christian  Church. 

Let  the  first  discussion  be  upon  the  list  of  the 
nations  affected  by  America's  example. 

Then  conduct  a  discussion  of  the  War  Lists. 

Consider   the   Immigration   Chart,   pointing  out   how 


APPENDIX  TO  CHAPTER  VIII  207 

the  successive  and  continued  waves  constitute  an  un- 
exampled missionary  opportunity. 

Have  the  presentation  and  discussion  of  the  Four 
Propositions  made  at  this  point. 

Call  for  individual  estimates  as  to  the  value  and 
convincing  power  of  this  chapter's  argument. 

Conduct  a  symposium  on  the  outline  of  the  book 
and  the  individual  benefit  derived   from  its  study. 

Give  opportunity  for  expression  of  personal  resolu- 
tions as  to  the  future  as  the  outgrowth  of  the  studies. 

The  Prayer  Period  may  be  occupied  by  the  use  of 
the  petitions  prepared  by  the  members. 

Sing  or  read  the  hymn,  "America,  the  Beautiful," 
and  "God  Bless  Our  Native  Land." 

The  leader  should  close  the  course  of  meetings  with 
a  brief  and  earnest  prayer  and  have  all  unite  in  the 
Lord's  Prayer.     The  benediction  may  be  used  also. 


INDEX 


Agents,  Divine  and  Human  United,  31. 

Agents   of  the   Church   in   Paul's  Day,  42. 

Agents,  The  Human,  34. 

America  and  World   Evangelization,   145. 

America  Converted  Means  a  World  Converted,  187. 

America,  Discovery  of,  127. 

America  Fundamental  to  World  Evangelization,  122. 

America  Must  Be  Converted,  184. 

America's  Conversion  a   Promising  Task,   185. 

America's  World  Mission,   167. 

Apostles  in  the  Apostolic  Church,  yj- 

Beaulieu,  Leroy,  on  "The  United  States  of  the  Twen- 
tieth  Century,"    176. 

Beveridge  on  "Americans  of  To-day  and  To-morrow," 
177. 

California,  Gold  Discovered   (1848),  136. 

Carolinas  Occupied  (1663),  131. 

Charters  of  the  Settlements,  151. 

China,  Am.erican  Influence  Through  Boxer  Fund,  168. 

Church  Is  Body  of  Which  Christ  Is  Head,  109. 

Church,  The  Free,  154. 

Classification,  A  Faulty,  94. 

Clergy  and  Laity,  35. 

Colonies  and  Settlements,  131. 

Commission,  The  Great,  18. 

Commission,  The   Saviour's   Special,  64. 

Concord,  Formula  of  on  the  Law,  99. 

Connecticut   Settled,   131. 

Constitution  and  Arbitration   Tribunal,    160. 

Cuba,  Freedom  of,   139. 

Daniel    Compares    Kingdom   to   a    Stone    Cut    Out   of 

Mountain,  115. 
Democracy,  Doctrine  of  Christian,  42. 
Diaconate  a  Distinct  Office  from  the  Clergy,  38. 
209 


210  INDEX 

Dispensation,  Various  Views  Concerning  Duties,  ii8. 
Douglass's  Tribute  and  Appeal,  190. 
Draper,  Prof.  John  William,  97. 
Dutch  Reformed  in  New  York,  131. 

Epistles,  The,  107. 

Europe,  The  Failure  of,  79. 

Factors  in  Home  Mission  Work,  59. 

Festivals  Observed  by  Appointment  of  Jehovah,  102. 

Finney,  Charles  G.,  45. 

Freemantle,  Testimony  of  Canon,   103. 

Functions,  The  Triune,  34. 

Geographical  Comparison  and  Contrast,  142. 

Gospels.  The,  105. 

Gray,  Rev.  A.  Herbert,  87. 

Great  Britain,  Peace  of   1783,  137. 

Gulick,  Dr.  Sidney  on  "White  Peril  in  Far  East,"  85. 

Hawaiian  Islands,  138. 

Hawaii's  Lesson,  83. 

History,  Testimony  of  Church,  74. 

Home  Missions,  The  Common  Sense  of,  84. 

Influence  of  America  Beyond  This  Continent,  167. 
Influence,  W.  E.  Doughty  on,   162. 
Institutions  of  God  on  Earth,   109. 

Family,  109. 

Church,  109. 

State,  109. 

Jamestown,  Va.,  First   Protestant  Colony   in   America, 

131. 
Japan,  85. 

Japan,  American  Influence  on,  168. 

Jefferson,  Through     Monroe,     Purchases     Mississippi 

Basin,  132. 

Jerusalem,  Church  at,  a  Witnessing,  39. 

Jerusalem,  Effect  of  Persecution  Against  the  Church, 

70.  .     ^ 

Jerusalem,  Strategic,  65. 
Jerusalem.  Why  Destroyed.   123. 
Jesus'  Attitude  on  Social  Questions.  105. 
Jesus  the  First  Home   Missionary.  61. 


INDEX  211 

Jewish  Community,  A  Brotherhood,  104. 
Judge  EHlio  del  Toro,  of  Porto  Rico,  164. 
Justice,   America's   Ideal   of   Equal,   Illustrated   in   Our 
Wars,   169. 

Kingdom,    Distinction    Between    Extent    and    Content, 

115. 
Kingdom  Here  and  Yet  to  Come,   114. 
Kingdom  of  God,  Divine  Ideal,   119. 
Kingdom  of  God,  Establishment  of,  Hope  of  World, 

113- 
Kingdom,  Three  Ideas  of,  by  Edersheim,  117. 
Kingdom,  Vedder  Defines,    116. 

Laity,  Clergy  and,  35. 

Language,   America's   Commanding,   172. 

Law,  The,  99. 

Laymen  Sent  Out  by  Southern  Presbyterian  Church,  58. 

Leader   in   Religious   World   Movements,   America   the, 

178. 
Legislation,    Special,    102. 
Lewis  and   Clark  Explorations,   133. 
Luther   and   Columbus,    128. 
Lutherans  in  New  York,  131. 

Macedonian  Call,  124. 
Maryland  Settled  in   1634,  131. 
Means  and  Agencies,  20. 

In  Nature,  20. 

In  Grace,  22. 
Means    for   World    Evangelization,    America    Has,    180. 
Means  of  Grace,  25. 

Men   for   World   Evangelization,   America   Has,    181. 
Messianic    Nation,    The,    145. 
Methodist  Church  Missions,  82. 

Miracles  Belonged  to  the  Whole  Apostolic  Church,  38. 
Missions  Classified  as  Home  and  Foreign,  15. 
Missions,  The  Agents,   16. 

Montcalm's  Defeat  on  "The  Plains  of  Abraham,"  130. 
Moravian   Church   Missions,  81. 
Morse,  Example  and  Illustration  from,  49. 
Mowery,  William  A.,   Points   Out  Providence  Toward 

America,  129. 

Nation,  The  Free,  155. 


212  INDEX 

Nation,  The  Quest  for  a,  122. 
National  Character,  Justice   Brewer  on,   157. 
Nationalities  in  America,  188, 
New  Hampshire  Colony  Began   (1691),  131, 
New  Jerse}^  Parts  of  Presented  to  Lord  Berkeley,  131. 
Nobility  of  German  Nation,  Not  Clergy,  Addressed  by 
Luther,  in. 

Obedience,  A  Test  of,  54. 

Offices  for  Administration  of  Word  and  Sacrament,  42. 
Oglethorpe  Began  Settlement  in  Georgia  (1733),  131. 
Oregon  Territory,  134. 

Paul's  Example,  67. 

Paul  of  Tarsus,  ZT- 

Paul's  Precept,  ^2. 

Penn  and  Quakers,   131. 

Philip  a  Layman,  38. 

Philippine  Islands,  139. 

Pierson,   Arthur   T.,    15. 

Pilgrim  Fathers,   131. 

Porto  Rico,  139,  164. 

Porto  Rico  a  Case  in  Point,  165. 

Position,    America's    Commanding,    172. 

Prayer,  Proofs  of  Efficacy  of,  50. 

Mount   Rainier,    Incident   on,   50. 

Garfield   and   McKinley,  51. 

Lincoln  and   General   Sickles,  51. 
Prayer  Teaches  Scope  of  Human  Activities,  108. 
Priesthood  of  Believers,  Luther  on,  41. 

Questions  Both  Ethical  and  Religious,   112. 

Reflex  Influence,  Joseph  E.  McAfee  on,  89. 
Reformation  in  Europe  and  the  Discovery  of  America, 

125. 
Religious  Freedom  Resisted,  164. 
Revelation,  Enlarging,   16. 
Revelation,  Varying  Methods  and  Signs,  17. 
Rhode    Island    Settlement,    131. 
Roberts  and  the  Founding  of  Roberts  College,  168. 
Rome  Lost  Her  Opportunity,  ']']. 

Sacraments,  The,  27. 

The  Means  and  Agent,  29. 


INDEX  313 

Samaritan  Woman,  Conversation  of  Jesus  with,  63. 

Scope  of  Home  Missions,  92, 

Scope,  The  True  Conception  of,  95. 

Scriptures,  Home  Missions  in  the  Light  of,  57. 

Service,  Christian  Must  Bring  All  into  God's,  120. 

Settlement,   Significance  of   the   Time,    147. 

Settlement,   Time  of,   146. 

Settlers,   The   Purpose  of,   150. 

Seventy.  Commission  of,  63. 

Sinai,  The  Covenant  of,   100. 

Social  Justice  and  National  Righteousness,  Who  Should 

Labor  for,  iii. 
Social  Redemption  at  Home,  Men  and  Religion  on,  88. 
Spain  Lost  Her  Opportunity,  78. 
Stephen  Not  an  Apostle,  37. 
Struggle,  The  Reformation,   129. 
Surrender,   Complete,   55. 

Swedish  Colony  on  the  Delaware   (1638),  131. 
Syro-Phcenician  Woman,  Healing  of  Daughter,  63. 

Texas  Exchanged  for  Florida,  132. 

Texas   Seeks  Admission  into  United  States,  133. 

Treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo,  133. 

Turks'  Conquest  of  Constantinople,  Eflfect  of,  126. 

Twelve,   Sending  Forth  of,  62. 

United  States  First  Nation  in  Time  and  Influence  on 

This  Continent,  159. 
Universal    Priesthood   of    Believers    Reasserted    in   the 

Reformation,  40. 

Witness-Bearing  an  Essential  Function,  43. 
Witnessing,   Constituent   Elements  of,  44. 

Knowledge,  45. 

Spiritual  Insight,  46. 

Understanding,  46. 

Faith,  48. 

Additional   Tests,   49. 
Word.  The,  25. 

Almighty,  26. 

Division  and  Use,  27. 
World  Mission,  America  Conscious  of,  I75. 

Xavier  in  India,  78. 


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